Well my lovely friends, I’ll be shoving off on Monday to the great state of New Jersey to attend Victory Jam 2009 at Harvey Cedars Bible Conference on Long Beach Island.  Victory Jam, or VJam as us repeat offenders call it, is a gathering of about 300 middle school children, counselors, one poor nurse, camp staff, and families at the beach to have fun, hear God’s Word, and build relationships.  My husband has been going since 2000 (I think) as the head Audio Video technician and this will be my 5th year attending with him.  (Year #5 was interrupted due to the fact I was pregnant with my second child and forbidden from traveling all the way to NJ so close to my due date.)  So, if in your daily thoughts, you would just remember us, the many, many children and people behind the scene who make this thing work, we would greatly appreciate it.  We jokingly call this our “vacation” because it’s really our trip to the beach where we see Josh, but don’t have much time with him, and where he exists on Vitamin Water & 5-Hour Energy drinks, but has the time of his life.  Please pray for the hearts and lives of these dear children that they would feel loved and cared for at such a tender age in their lives.  And pray for ME!  I’m going to be a part-time single parent with two children at the beach, and as you might remember, I don’t like sand!  Thanks so much you all, and we’ll miss you!  I won’t have my beloved camera with me because it’s at the “doctor.”  But  will have my iPhone and my Flip Mino, so look for updates on my facebook page!  Here’s a few photos from last year….I’m off to fold some laundry and watch The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Water balloon volley ball

Lucas (a counselor) encouraging his team

Harvey Cedars at dusk

The Sroka gang last year

One of the many messy games – chocolate covered bagel on a string

Cheeseballs attached with peanut butter

Some more peanut butter

Bethany – our church’s fearless leader

The human chain – last leg of the relay race

Jimmy the banana man

I have been checking the Weather.com app on my iPhone all week hoping and praying it wouldn’t rain this past Sunday.  The weather here in Maryland has been crazy unpredictable these past few weeks, and it was changing daily on my weather app.  Luckily, or by the grace of God, I was blessed with a mild, rain-free Sunday evening in Fells Point for Mark & Lindsey’s engagement photos.

I believe I met Mark when my family first moved to Maryland from Oklahoma and we began attending the same church as his family.  I’m reaching waaaaaay back in my memory here, but I believe I would have been about 8 years old then.  And I met Lindsey not too long after in the fourth grade at Belvedere Elementary School.  I remember that year well because I misspelled “chimney” in the class spelling bee and didn’t make it as far as I’d hoped.  Don’t worry though, I wasn’t crushed too badly.

Well, my point is, I’ve known Mark & Lindsey seperately for a number of years, but I always find it so neat when two people I know, who I didn’t know knew each other, find each other, fall in love, and begin a life together.  Isn’t it a small world?  They were such a great couple to photograph.  All I had to do was tell them tons of cheezy jokes and stories, and they just laughed it up!  Plus I think they were a little nervous being in Fells Point on a Sunday with tons of people watching them cuddle, kiss, and do engaged-people stuff.  But everything went great.

And what I loved was that Lindsey did some research on some ideas she had before we went out.  She’d found Max Wanger‘s site and loved the session he did of a couple with a huge balloon.  So, we tried some things with balloons and some without.  All the while, I felt like we could have been the pied piper and gotten little children everywhere to follow us with those balloons!  They were coming out of nowhere saying, “ball-oon, ball-oon!”

I had a smashing good time (like my new word) with you both, Mark & Lindsey, and can’t wait for your wedding this October.  I know it will rock!

My husband thinks this one would look appropriate with a pitch fork

Do you know what we spelled?

And I think this one has to be my absolute favorite!  Look at the way he looks at her.

(Disclaimer:  These photos were taken with my iPhone because I didn’t want to lug my nice 40D out in possibly torrential downpours)

Yesterday we continued our tradition of attending the Baltimore Orioles‘ Opening Day.  We went with our friends Steve & Heather and each of us were excite because our lovely mothers had our children for most of the day!  We were also excited because the O’s played the Yankees and it’s apparently a big rivalry.  Not that the Orioles skill level matches the Yankees, just that the Yankees fans live so close that they always come down and crowd our stadium.  Well, we showed them yesterday just who’s house they were in…OUR HOUSE!  The Orioles won 10 to 5…amazing!  We had a great time with Heather & Steve.  Here’s a little about what happened….

On our way in, dodging many bar-goers, we were stopped at a light and this huge Gecko kept looking at Heather through her window.  So we amused him/her and took it’s picture.

We ferociously booed the Yankees‘ Mark Teixeira.  I mean that poor guy got booed from the time he left the dugout until he finished striking out at bat!  Josh informed that he had apparently teased the Orioles by saying he may play for his hometown team and then went to the Yankees instead for more money.  What now, Teixeira!

Every year we comment on how we love Opening Day, but we hate how many crazy drunks we run in to.  Steve had the wonderful opportunity to sit next to “Mark.”  We saw him with a few drinks, but didn’t realize why he was so wasted until he told Steve that his “coke” wasn’t really Coca-Cola…it was another mixture!  Thankfully he was seated next to Steve who helped him not set a Yankees hat on fire…twice! We didn’t take a photo of him, but you can barely see the side of him in this photo of Heather & Steve.

Then there was the ever-so-loud, slightly drunk, woman next to me who kept shouting, “Give me my money back, O’s!  Do something.  Show me why I spent my money!”  Hopefully she feels her money was well spent!  Here’s a view of Josh hiding under his hood, and Heather, being silly behind him.

And last, but not least, a photo of Josh and ME! I know…those are rare!  I begged Josh for one so we’d have evidence that we actually were there.  Now, I know, it does look like I’m choking my husband, but that’s not at all what happened.  He kept shaking his head around so Steve wouldn’t be able to take a picture, so I had to hold his head still.  End of story.

Great win, Orioles!  Let’s see what you do today!