Aunt Annie

I became an aunt for the 7th time last night!

Baby Boy Clawson was born November 29, 2005 at 3:30 pm to proud parents Natalie and Andrew. He weighs 6 lbs 1 oz and is 19 1/2 inches long. Isn't he cute?? I am looking forward to brainwashing yet another nephew into believing that I am the greatest Aunt ever.

There's No Place Like NYC for the Holidays

I went to New York with my friend Abbie and cousin Betsy to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my uncle. We had a relatively smooth bus ride out which took 6 hours as opposed to the 9 hours it took us last year and went directly to Betsy's friend Clara's house to catch the end of America's Next Top Model and grab some food. We had all expressed interest in seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons so we went over to Central Park West to see them. I think we were the last ones to see before they turned off the lights. Lucky us! You may recognize this arm...this actually could double as a crime scene photo. This is the arm of the

yellow M & M that knocked the light off the post that hit two girls on the parade route. Thanksgiving day, Abbie and I walked over to Central Park to catch the parade. Me being the photo-obsessed girl that I am, took too much time taking pictures in the park that we missed the parade (my uncle lives near the beginning of the parade.)

Oh I realize that the third picture is sideways, I'm using an old browser and I don't have any editing capablities. Maybe someday I'll fix it. Isn't Central Park gorgeous? There are so many neat things there. After Abbie indulged my photography obsession, we went to see Pride and Prejudice. Don't ask me how it is because I slept through it. This shouldn't really come as a surprise to those who know me. We came home and had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner which Uncle Denny prepared for us. He has the magic touch with turkey, it was delightful and moist, and I don't even like turkey. Way to go Denny! Doesn't this Thanksgiving dinner look lovely??


After dinner we settled in for the What Not To Wear Thanksgiving Day marathon, where we overdosed on TV. The rest of the week was spent shopping, eating and watching TV/movies. This trip has given me the desire to move to NYC. It's highly unlikely that anything will happen, but if I was given the opportunity I would be there in a heartbeat.

CAMPING!

So I am so not an outdoorsy girl, but in the efforts of broadening my horizons, I consented to a camping trip with a bunch of friends. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, clear skies, 70 degrees, AMAZING! Fall is my absolute favorite season so it was so great to see the leaves on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah's before they fell. We got to the campsite around 5:00, set up camp and fire, had a little dinner and thanks to the time change were ready to call it a night at 6:30. Of course we quickly put that thought aside and kicked it by the fire for several more hours. We chatted, ate food and took lots of pictures. Ben brought an awesome alternative to marshmallows so I roasted orange rolls by the fire. Wow, amazing!
Although the weather was warm during the day, it sure cooled off at night. I lasted quite a while with my short sleeved shirt but got progressively colder, as you can see in the picture. We finally got to bed around midnight but Tara, Ben and I couldn't sleep, so we sat up talking and playing blackjack. Things wound down an hour or so later and we all tried to get to sleep. Unfortunately I couldn't sleep, mostly because it was freezing cold, but also because Ben kept poking me in the side so I could help him count how many people were snoring. At 5:00ish I burrowed myself deep in my sleeping bag and got a little rest. However, not before Nick rubbed in the fact that he was boiling up and taking off layers. Not surprisingly, I was the first one up for good (at about 7:00) but the last to get out of bed. We then ate breakfast and headed out for a little hike. I lasted about ten minutes before I thought I was going to die, so Tara and I split off from the group and took some pictures and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings. When everyone rejoined us, we went back to the lodge for lunch and then Tara, Ben, Karl and I left for civilization. We stopped at several overlooks for some more picture taking and enjoyed the journey back to VA while singing like crazies. A little treat for Ben since he'd been trying to get me to sing for him all day. I must say I had a good time. I really enjoy hanging out by the fire, despite my slight phobia of the flames and I really enjoy the company, but I didn't really care for the lack of sleep caused by rocks, cold, snoring etc. It is good for one night, but I probably won't do it again for a LONG time.

HALLOWEEN!!

I think this was one of the best Halloween's ever! I had an awesome costume, lots of parties, and too much candy. It doesn't get any better than that. I dressed up this year as gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe, thanks Amanda! What resulted was lots of confused looks. Yeah, I was a little self-conscious being surrounded by strangers staring at me while whispering to their friends, but I got over it. At the second party I went to I still got the puzzled faces, but more people knew who I was or asked if they didn't. Here are a few pictures of my costume.



Me trying to blow a bubble.


Michelle and I



My roommates Katie, Bronwyn and Rachel. Jamie was at home passing out candy.


Shanna and I



I took this picture before I put my costume on on Friday. You can't really tell but I had THE coolest makeup on. My eyeshadow was fuscia. It doesn't get any better than that!