Always Worth a Laugh :)

One of the many gifts I'm thankful for...a husband and puppy who make me laugh  :)

Entering the 2-6

Great b-day...'nough said  :)

First Day of School...Teacher AND Student Edition

Somehow, over the weekend the counter jumped up to 1,000!  So thanks for tuning in to our stimulating-to-us-sometimes-boring-to-others life  :)

Falling under the that category...today was the first day of school, as a teacher AND student for me.  I promise I'll update more as time goes on with details (but then I again, I have promised to blog about 3 other recent events, that I haven't even got around to yet)...plus this past weekend with my favorite college roomies.  And I'm now back to working full time and going to school part time, so we'll see.

So in short summary...I LOVE my new school and this class I'm taking is not too bad.  I'll definitely either need a nap or caffeine on Mondays and Wednesdays b/c on those days I go from not only being at school as a TEACHER from 7:30 AM-3:30 PM, but then it's off to school as a STUDENT from 6:15 PM-9:05 PM...yuck (at least the middle school is an 18 min. drive away & my class is a quick 5 min. bike ride away  :)  Actually, not too yuck...I wouldn't teach or go back to school if I didn't enjoy it.  But prayers would be much appreciated during this time.

Alright, now to the boring-to-all part of the life that is being a middle-school-PE-teaching-Fohner (that's the both of us now)...it's shortly after 10:00 meaning it's time to catch up with Jesus & then off to bed for these peeps.

Love in our Precious Lord & Savior,

Lyns

Where Has Summer Gone? :(

Man, oh man!  Where did the time go?

I guess it really does fly by when you're having fun.  This is me, feeling like I do right now...it was taken when I was down in the OBX with my mom, her future extended fam, and Patch and was missing Thew a bit.  We send sad picture texts to each other b/c we hadn't seen each other in a few days b/c he had to stay up here in Fred-neck for a class he was taking this summer...I know we're dorks.

Was this only one short month ago?

How 'bout this...for real?

What do you mean, I can't go back to Cozumel?

What do you mean I have to teach on Monday?

What?  WhAT? WHAT!?

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for Monday and my first day with my new students, but still...where did summer go?  I miss you summer!  Come back to me soon!  I promise I'll appreciate you more next time!

Alright, time to head to Towson for the night and day tomorrow for another College Roomie Reunion Weekend...love 'em!  At least I can commiserate with them (5 out of the 7 of us are teachers).  Yes, we all had no life the second half of of senior year in college...but we still had fun and still do.  So here I go to have some fun  :)

More posts to come later on in the week (hopefully) if I suddenly gain my life back in the middle of 8 hours of teaching each day and 6 hours of class for 2 nights each week.

Yes, those awesome pics are from my awesome hub...I'll say hub since he had being referred to as a hubby  :)

Alright, I really am signing off now...peace...

The Bateman Fohner Fam Vaca - A Picture Montage of Bethany

So after flying back from FL & the last morning of the cruise that last Friday in July, Patch & I hopped in the car and headed straight to Bethany Beach.  I love long drives with people I love and this one was no exception.  He's a sweet little bro & the little Renaissance Man of the family...basically anything he does, the little 19-year-old excels at & he is one of the kindest souls I know.  How many teenagers hug their sisters and say, "I love ya, sis" and actually hold you tight and mean it?  BTW, he's totally not available...he happens to have been dating the little sister of one of my former Young Life girls for over 3 years now, and I love Christine, so don't mess  ;)

Macs are fun...

BTW, the face on Scotty's shirt is actually my mom's sister, Martha...we got a kick out of it

There's a normal looking pic of my Scotty, my Aunt, & I...and don't get me wrong, I LOVE my other little bro, too.  Scotty is fiercely overprotective, even though he's 18 months younger than me, I know he'll always take care of me.  As long as I can remember, he's been in my life and I love how I can't remember a time that he hasn't been "Goggy" (my nickname for him when we were little). BTW, he IS available, but you have to go through ME first  ;)  and I'm VERY picky and just as overprotective.

I love my Aunt, too...she's my super chic, DC-living, tell it like it is, fun-loving, Italy-vacation-sharing, always-makes-me-laugh, cool-to-the-max, spoils-me-rotten Aunt.  She's only 15 years older than me, so I'm super attached to her, too  :)

There's my super hot Mom...she gets a post devoted entirely to her, come December.  Come on, I've already gotten waaay too sentimental in this post anyway.  I bet a few of you have just scrolled down and aren't even paying any attention to what I'm writing anymore  ;)

Greg & Patch clamming & finding a huge horseshoe crab.  Greg let the his lab, Fenwick (pic below) grab it and tote it around for a while...hilarious!  Don't worry, that horseshoe crab was fine & I'm pretty sure learned his lesson about swimming close too close to my feet!

I think this was the one time that my Mom's Chesapeake Bay Retriever Puppy, Deacon was actually kinda still.  He is DEFINITELY a puppy...mouthy, vocal, and a huge annoyance to humans and fellow dogs.  Poor Aslan has had to suffer through over a week & a half with him at my Mom's house this summer while Thew and I were away on other vacations.  He's slowly but surely growing out of the puppy stage, though  :)

Patch & SPHS friend, Chris, who came down for a few nights.  I like him, even though he plays lax for UNC  ;)

My Momma & her Momma...they rock my socks off  :)

Todd, Mom, & Crazy Dog...

The week was super fun and relaxing...a GREAT way to end our two weeks of fun.  Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, Todd, Aunt Martha, Scotty, Patch, Christine, Thew, and I had a blast spending our days on the beach & outlet shopping and our nights watching movies & mini-golfing.  I think I almost talked my Mom & Aunt's ears off that first day...I hadn't talked to a female in almost a week and I had some serious jonesing for some estrogen company after 5 straight days of being surrounded by my Dad, little bro's, and husband.

Summer is a great time to not only spend time with family & friends as well as catch up on things and slow down.  Not only was this week good for that, I actually got some great clarity on something I had been struggling with for months.  God basically had to hit me in the face with a 2x4 for me to get it, but I finally did...and I'm so thankful to have that fervent prayer answered, but that's another blog post for another day  :)

Until then, this is the Fohner Family...signing off!

The Bateman Fohner Fam Vaca - A Picture Montage of Sunsets & Rises

So this last post about the Cruise is devoted to celebrating the beauty that greets us each morning and waves us off to sleep each night...the sights that for almost 26 years have continued to take my breath away, how the Lord paints His wondrous sky...

This was close enough to our 3rd Anniversary to get me feeling all romantic and wanting to remember our Honeymoon Cruise...and yes, this was the one of the pictures that actually turned out despite this

Speaking of our Honeymoon Cruise, here's that pic 3 amazing years prior...

The budding photographer hidden waaay down deep inside me attempted this foreground fuzzed/background focused shot...

reminiscent of this shot from our Honeymoon...

man, our rings look so shiny & new...but I'm very proud of how they've weathered our small storms of life over the past few years

A Cozumel sunset...the boys had already snuck back on the ship & we stayed around to try & find a Christmas ornament (a Fohner Family tradition from every family vacation that started on our Honeymoon)

Thew snapped this snazzy one on our last night on the ship...

Patch & Thew woke up super early the last day we were on the ship to snap this one...

A few minutes later...

The Bateman Fohner Fam Vaca - A Video Montage of Cozumel

MONKEY! from Matthew & Lynsey Fohner on Vimeo.

When we arrived back in the Port of Cozumel from our Bike & Snorkel Excursion, we were greeted by a small group from Discover Mexico with a small zoo in tow.

One of these animals was a small Squirrel Monkey named Antonia. What a cutie!

Turn the volume up for some neat audio & you'll be sure to hear...

- why Squirrel Monkeys have it good in captivity
- why dudes with beards should NOT hold a Squirrel Monkey
- why Antonia likes it when myself & other girls hold her
- why Mexican Squirrel Monkeys like Strawberry Margaritas

The Bateman Fohner Fam Vaca - A Picture Montage of Cozumel

So much has gone on in the last 6 days that I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed even writing this.  More to come on those events later, but I'll leave you hanging (hopefully to snag in those of you who have actually started reading my blog again) with a preview of what those blog title will be...

"Why I'm Proud to be a Fohner - The Ward/Fohner Family Reunion"

"Babies...Babies...and Even MORE Babies...everyone we know is having them"

"I LOVE my New Job...wait, am I jinxing myself...the students haven't even come yet!"

In the meantime...I digress back to my promise of continuing our vacation pics & videos...

So this was the BEAUTIFUL back drop that is the island of Cozumel  :)  Posting these pics actually made me like I was only on vacation with my husband (not that I don't love you, Dad & little bros, but once you 3 are married, you'll understand)!

This was during our Bike & Snorkel Excursion...the bike part definitely made me feel better about splurging on 3 course meals for every single decadent meal, every single day!

Ahhh, my new favorite spot for Quiet Times...too bad it's a couple of thousand miles away

How cute, right?!  No, I was talking about the monkey, sillies, not my hot husband...though Thew is super cute  ;)

We Fohner's like to break the rules

3rd Anniversary Re-Cap :)

Do you know anyone who would travel across three states just for this...

because we totally do!  Yes, Sonic is that good.  Yes, if you live by one, I'm sure you vastly under appreciate it.  Yes, we are that big of fans of this place to spend just under an hour in the car just to get there.  Why, do you ask?  Oh, do you even have to?  Too many reasons to count, that's why  :)

Indulgence with food is just one of the many things we Fohner's like to do so we think absolutely nothing of spending a total of 4 hours in the car just to reach our favorite destinations for good grub.

We started the day with our favorite Entenmann's & had a very lazy morning.  Then it was off to the closest Sonic in Winchester, VA with Jill (our trusty GPS) leading the way.  It was a beautiful drive so after enjoying our meal we looped back through Harpers Ferry to take in some more sights.  It was almost enough to make us park right there and jump in the river...so beautiful.  We got back just in time to relax and take a nap before heading out to dinner in B-more.

On the way there, God surprised us with this...

how cool!  We figured it would rain at some point yesterday since on the days of every single big event in our life together, it has rained at some point on those days...our first kiss...our first date (yes, we realize those events are out of order, but it just kind of happened, we were friends only [in my eyes] for 6 months before Matt realized I was starting to feel something more for him, too)...the night Matthew told me he loved me & the night I told him I loved him, too...the night we got engaged (which the rain caused to happen at his college apartment & not at our favorite sunset spot on the beach, it was still perfect, though)...and yes, even our wedding day (just in the early morning) & then it was gorgeous out.

So we finally got to the restaurant for our late night reservation and it was a blast.  The last time I went to Restaurante Tio Pepe was when my parents took me for my 17th Birthday (9 years ago at the end of this month, so I was craving some sangria & roast duck  :)

The food was awesome and it helps when your date is the hottest & funniest dude in the restaurant.  We each had a really good dessert, but low and behold, come 3:00 AM this girl was yakking in commode.  I'm not sure why, but praise God, I was only up for 10 minutes or so and I feel fine this morning (enough to continue the indulgence that is Entenmann's).  The worst part of yakking is always that time leading up to it when you know you are, but you just have to wait until your body is ready and thankfully, I woke up right away and was able to make it to the bathroom in time.  No, I'm not pregnant...this was definitely the dessert so don't you fellow blog-stalkers get any ideas just yet  ;)

After dinner, we headed back to this place...

to walk around and reminisce about that special day 3 years ago (thanks again to J Mallare for his AWESOME rendition of Jars of Clay's "I Want To Fall in Love with You" in the pic...Di, every time we hear that song, Matt always says that Jason sang it better  :).

Of course, for the 2nd time of visiting on our anniversary, there was an all-black wedding reception that had finished up 30 minutes before so it was totally obvious that we were traipsing around the after-party un-invited.  All well, the party WAS over and I did call ahead to make sure it was okay we walked around, so we're good.  We've made it a goal to visit there on every anniversary that we're in town just to remember the day.  Last year we were in CA for our anniversary so that was nixed, but anytime we spend the anniversary near home, we're there  :)

So here's to our Three-Peat and to all the ones that follow  :)

We'll catch you all on the flip side...we've got the big Ward/Fohner Family Reunion down in O.C. this weekend along with Mark & Dana's Wedding (I LOVE going to weddings around our anniversary :) to squeeze in back here on the Western Shore on Saturday.  More to come about that early next week & I'll finally finish posting from our 2 week vaca...until then, peeeace.

3 Years Ago Today...

Three years ago today, we were doing this...

We are truly blessed beyond measure  :)

Here's to only the beginning of our beautiful lifetime together

"Has not the LORD made them one?

In flesh and spirit they are his."

-Malachi 2:15

see the whole album on my facebook page

The Bateman Fohner Fam Vaca - A Video Montage of the Key West

House work chores? Are you kidding me? Totally overrated! I have yet to leave the couch this morning after my previous blog-posting therapy. Blogging, watching the "Price is Right" with your husband, and enjoying being in your bathrobe until past noon is what summer vacation is all about in this house of teachers.

I digress...why not upload our videos from our day at Key West?

Key West Special: Animal Edition from Matthew & Lynsey Fohner on Vimeo.

On our day at Key West, we were told by our trolley guide that roosters overrun the island and seem to have absolutely no internal clock that tells them to only crow at dawn. Instead they crow any freaking time they want, so since they tend to annoy the locals, we decided to annoy them.

Some of my favorite bits of this video include Thew yelling, "Hey!" and the rooster turning to look at him directly afterwards, as well as my youngest bro, Patrick, threatening, "I'm gonna fry you" at the end. Oh, I love the men in my life :)

Key West Special: Animal Edition (Part 2) from Matthew & Lynsey Fohner on Vimeo.

After walking around the island more, we find a group of chickens and roosters hiding in a grove of palms. My youngest bro, Patrick and I were given specific instructions to herd the animals to my husband, Thew and other younger bro, Scotty while they took pictures and filmed video.

This is the result...WARNING, you may want to turn the volume down if you're not in the comfort of your own home...there are no curse words, but there is fowl language (get it?), i.e. Thew & Scotty yelling at the roosters that they are little (insert another name that roosters are called). If you happen to be listening to this and not watching it, you'll be utterly confused.  My favorite bit is at the end when we have the rooster cornered only to have Thew sneak up on it all stealth-like.  Priceless reaction  :)

The Bateman Fohner Fam Vaca - A Picture Montage of Key West

So, feeling super stuffed with food after our first dinner on the cruise, Thew & I go back to our stateroom to chill for the night.  Still in shock over the fact that we can gorge ourselves again in the morning with a several course breakfast or choose from the many options that room service has to offer, we decided to gorge on room service, checked our selections, and hit the sack.

Now back it up about an hour previous...we're walking around the ship after dinner taking in the awesome sunset and we remark that we're kinda tired and want to get a good night's sleep for walking around Key West the next day.  After much boo-hooing from my dad and little bro's calling us pansies and old people, etc., we head down to the room around 9:00ish to hang out/check out the free movies on TV/read for an hour or so before dozing off.  Yes, I've become a bore since college...only 3 short years ago...the nights of hanging out 'til 2:00 or 3:00 AM & getting up for a day that started with 8:00 AM classes (or a 6 hour stint of student teaching) followed by 3 hours of practice, are definitely over.  I'm lucky if I can keep my eyes open past 10:00 PM nowadays without the help of caffeine.  If you haven't hit your mid-twenties yet, just you wait!

Anyway, we dock in Key West at 7:00 AM, so this girl's thinking she'll set the alarm for 7:00 AM, get ready, eat her leisurely room service breakfast, and hit the shore around 8:30 AM (giving us plenty of time to see the sights we originally saw on or Honeymoon 3 years ago and reminisce).

Instead, Thew & I (or should I say, just I, wake to a knock at our door at 5:30 AM with a cheery, rough English shout of "Room Service").  I look at my cell phone next to me, which hasn't changed over from EST time, and see 4:30 AM on the clock...WHAT?!  I throw on a robe attempting to not look half as disheveled as I feel and stumble to the door.  Now, I'm sure the foreign room service attendant has seen people in more compromising situations than how I looked, but I sure felt exactly how I happened to look...like someone had just awaken me from a few hours of sleep with a tad of jet-lag, a hastily flung on robe, bangs sticking out & other hair jutting out from my head in weird shapes that are usually controlled by hairspray, and to top it all off, my 1950's-style blond glasses (that I don't ever wear in public).

When he asks me to sign our original order I glance at the bottom of the form to see the delivery time of 7:45-8:00 AM scratched out and hastily re-written in my father's handwriting, 5:30-5:45 AM.  Oh, I'm steaming now...but not enough to let it bother me from my new plans to shove a croissant in my mouth and drift off to sleep again until 8:00 AM.

This lovely routine continued the next morning, when we didn't even order room service...a lovely greeting at the same time before dawn with a healthy order of smoked salmon and 6 orange juices.  Now I convinced this room service attendant to drop off this order at my dad & brother's room just 2 doors over instead of leaving it with us, so I felt a little better.  Oh, and don't you think for a second that I didn't order fake room service FOR THEM that morning for an even earlier time...that's right, you don't mess with me and my precious sleep!

After two mornings in a row of this, you better believe I called room service and made a request that no orders be sent to us, and if they did, they were fake and to please not process them.  Hence, me being able to sleep in in perfect peace the rest of our time on that ship...well, until Friday morning when some drunk loudmouths decided to park it right outside of our door to talk about how slammed they were at 4:00 AM...but other than that, I slept very well the whole rest of the time on vacation  :)

I digress back to the morning of Key West...we walked up and down most of the cool harbor of Key West and Duval Street (equivalent of Main Street Annapolis...man, I miss where I grew up!) filled with cool shops, museums, and the cuteness of the southern-most point of the States, that makes you feel like you're not even in the US anymore.

We hiked up to the Ernest Hemingway House, where we saw 50 of these...

just laying around and waiting for visitors to pet them them...about half the cats (including this one have 6 toes, a rare genetic mutation that randomly appeared in the generations of cats related to Hemingway's original many cats).

Thew & I posing with the concrete-embedded penny that Hemingway claimed was all that was left of his fortune after he came home from overseas to find that his wife had the first swimming pool in Key West put in.  A staggering $20,000 cost (even now), though that was back in 1938 when it only cost Hemingway $8,000 to build his original house that is still standing today (built by a master architect & basically hurricane-proof).  A short time later, Hemingway divorced that wife and moved onto wife #3.

The 2nd Floor of Hemingway's House

A cool palm in the garden that my talented hub snagged a pic of

It was so cool to see where Hemingway spent his time...the beautiful house with wrap around porches on both levels, lush gardens, and writing house.  Though his written works are a distant memory to me, I always remember watching the movie version of his most famous story "The Old Man and the Sea" with my dad when I was little.  There's something about that story of that old man who spends 2 full days to pull the biggest marlin he's ever seen from his line that the marlin has snagged to his boat only to realize that he can't even fit it in his simple boat.  He finally has to kill the marlin so he can even row home with it since it is still struggling.  With the marlin trailing in the water behind him, sharks start to eat it as the old man rows home and the man is able to kill some but not enough to end up at home only with a shell of what the marlin once was.  In the end, the old man's journey allows him to reconnect with his young apprentice who has been forbade to fish with him b/c of the old man's bad luck recently at sea.  So heartbreakingly sad, but such a good story, with a great ending.  You realize the story isn't as much about the old man and the marlin, but is actually about the old man and the sea...how it has connected him and the boy in the story.  A connection that is hard to explain even through Pulitzer Prize winning novella or a simple blog post about a girl's relationship with her father.  My dad and I have some memories that I hold very dear to me of our time spent on and around the waters of Severna Park...one of the reasons I desperately miss my peninsula of a hometown and hate the mountains of Fred-neck, but that's another post.

Key West was super fun and stinking hot...what an awesome first full day of our cruise!  Well, that's enough yapping out of me for now.  After all, I have some housework to catch up on.  I mean, not everyone can afford to do this...