A Martin Family Trip to Costco

 Whenever entering one of those big box stores, did you ever notice that you have to either walk by or through the electronics section? Well, when you have a husband who LOVES electronics, this walk can be a very long and painful one. Tyler and I have been together now for about seven years, and everytime we go to one of these stores, he is very good, and looks but has never bought. In a recent trip however, after that long wait, I told Tyler to pick out what he wanted and we would buy it and voila the results are below.

I have to admit that after watching TV on a 25" tube television, the 42" flat screen is pretty awesome. I know nothing else beyond that on televisions, I just know my favorite shows look and sound amazing. I know however that Tyler is looking forward to football season even more now because of this purchase.

And while Tyler got a TV, I had to buy myself something as well, and this beauty now hangs in my backyard:

Compliments to the lady at Costco that pointed out that there was quite a difference in what husband and wife "picked up" while shopping... wasn't sure if Ty noticed!

Welcome Spring!

 Spring is finally here! After a very long and very cold winter, it was nice to have some temps in the 60s this past weekend in Baltimore. It meant that we got to spend some wonderful time outside, and we cleaned up the "garden" out front as well. Living in the city, you take what you can get.

So after months of fighting with the city, we finally got them to come out and plant a tree in the empty tree box in front of our house. To clean it up a little bit, we planted some hosta and put down some soil and mulch. Now if only the little doggies in the neighborhood can stay out. And big big thanks to Mama Rogers for her help. I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to gardening.

We also got some wonderful flower pots (again courtesy of Mama Rogers) and planted some flowers in front of the house. Pansies on the left, and I have no idea what I planted on the right. Just know that it said that it was very hardy and could take the heat and direct sunshine which we definitely get. Definitely something nice to come home to everyday!

12th losing season

As summer finally ends (and thank goodness because it was the hottest summer on record here in Baltimore), we also said goodbye to another baseball season, and unfortunately the 12th losing season in a row for the Orioles (we got it next year!). Even though we had to watch another bad season by the Orioles, we went to one of our last games in style when we got tickets to sit in the Governor's box right behind home plate. Here are some of the highlights of our day.

Outside of the skybox

The tickets that got us to club level



In the sky box, with beautiful Camden Yards behind us.

Our view of the game

Another shot

Tyler enjoying some of the grub that they fed us.

And it must have been fate for us to sit there because right outside the door was the jersey of the greatest third baseman to ever play the game!

Definitely ready for some football

With the Orioles having another not so stellar season, we have both been looking forward to football. And maybe I can't blame it all on the Orioles, it could be the record breaking summer we had and we want the cooler weather, or even the fact we are ready for some tailgates that include friendly games of cornhole and finally getting the chance to use our firepit. Well whatever it is, we are ready to watch the Washington Huskies on Saturdays and Baltimore Ravens on Sundays!

With all that being said, the first Ravens home game is not until the end of September. So while we were ready for them, they weren't coming down to Baltimore for a little while. Also, we were unable to get to training camp because it is an hour outside of the city, and typically Monday-Friday while we are at work. However... the Ravens brought one training camp session down to M&T Bank stadium on a Saturday, so we walked down and got to take in a day of football.

The Ravens opened the stadium to fans, so we could sit wherever we wanted. We were able to make it about 8 rows back to watch Baltimore QB Joe Flacco warm up on the sidelines. (And for those of you in Seattle, that is in fact Jim Zorn to the left of Flacco in the white shirt and black shorts. Brought on as Baltimore QB coach)

My personal favorite Raven, Todd Heap. A Pac-10 product out of Arizona State. Can't wait to hear the Heap chants this fall!

Offensive line drills. Tyler used this practice as a chance to get soem drills for his Lansdowne High team.

QB huddle. Troy Smith out of Ohio State and a Heisman Trophy winner, Joe Flacco who is probably the first franchise quaterback in team history, and Mark Bulger.

After individual drills, the team also ran some inter-squad drills.

Team huddle at the end of the three hour practice.

Number 74, Michael Oher. Many of you may remember his story that was brought out in the movie The Blindside

Joe Flacco again, still focused after practice ends. Ready to win a Super Bowl in Baltimore!

Self-taken photo. We are getting pretty good at these!

And then a nice couple took a picture for us. It was a great day, and now we are ready for the regular season!

Bahamas Cruise

At the last minute, we decided to book a cruise for our summer vacation. Conveniently enough, there are cruises that go out of Baltimore that go to fabulous places in the Carribean. So we booked a cruise that headed for the Bahamas at the end of July! We had an amazing week, and here are a few pictures of our adventure!

Ready to set sail! After dealing with a broken air conditioner and 100 degree temperatures in Baltimore, we were more than ready for vacation. So we grabbed a welcome cocktail and found our room that had a fabulous balcony view.

Our first stop was in Cape Canaveral, Florida. We decided to go for an airboat ride along the river.

And we did see gators! The dark spot that looks like a log is one of the gators that we saw.

After the boat ride, we got the chance to hold a gator who was rescued from a swamp. He is someone's pet now and this is as big as he is going to get.


Tyler being "eaten" by a gator.

The next stop was Nassau, Bahamas. This was our ship parked at the port in Nassau.

This is apparently a famous lighthouse in Nassau. We were both just so taken aback by how many different shades of blue the water was.

We took a catamaran tour of Nassau, and got to go snorkeling at a reef.

After the snorkeling trip, we went to Senor Frogs for some lunch.

Here we are sitting on the water with our "yards" of Bahama Mamas.

We cleaned up and then headed back out in Nassau. Much to our surprise, everything pretty much closes at about 6pm there, so we found a Hard Rock Cafe and had Bahamian Beer.

Our next stop the next day was in Freeport, Bahamas. We decided to head our seperate ways because Tyler wanted to go scuba diving, and I can not scuba dive.

Not only did he go scuba diving though, he went scuba diving with sharks!

And here is my idea of relaxation... sitting on a beach with a good book watching the ocean.

Our last night on the boat was a formal night for dinner.

And when we would come back from dinner every night, we always found towel animals. Here is one of our favorites from the last night. Two seals!

It was a fabulous week that we didn't want to end! A big thank you to Mama Rogers for dog sitting while we were away!

Summer of Lacrosse

So it has been a super busy summer, and I hope over the next few days to get a couple of updates up for those who are just dying to know what has been going on with us all summer. Well I guess one of the things that kept Tyler busy all summer was lacrosse... as usual! He played in a summer league with guys that graduated from Lansdowne as well as coached at camps with Tom Marachek all over the East Coast. I think for me personally, this was the first summer in almost 20 years where lacrosse wasn't a huge part of my life. I rather enjoyed it!

Here are some photos from Tyler's summer league play this year:

Some of Ty's biggest fans waiting for the game to start

From all the time we play lacrosse with them, I think they secretly wish they could run around on the field with all of the guys.

Ty in the cage

Ready to make a save

Happy birthday Tyler

Throughout this summer, Tyler has been busy working lacrosse camps around the mid-atlantic. I stole him away from that for a little while though to celebrate his 33rd birthday. We spent a quiet night in the house with presents, a homemade dinner and of course ice cream cake to finish the night. Three is Ty's lucky number, so I told him I think that this is going to be a very good year for him!

The birthday boy starting to open his presents. Being "good" and opening the card first.

The first present, the Band of Brothers mini-series on DVD.

This present was a little confusing, but something that Tyler has been asking for. Ty has a tendency of putting his things (keys, phone wallet, etc) throughout the house and then can't find things when he leaves, so I got him a monogrammed leather "catch-all" where he can put his stuff when he comes in the door.


And finally, some Under Armour clothes, Ty's favorite! And Oliver helped in opening up the present too.

The gourmet dinner cooking on the stove, crabcakes and summer squash and zucchini.

And one of Tyler's favorites, my Mom's homemade macaroni and cheese.

Jack sat at the top of the steps while I was cooking and supervised.

Ice cream cake!

No singing, but he made a wish and blew out the candles.

And the birthday boy cutting the cake