i love the U S and A!

today i found myself actually enjoying espn...
not for the usual boring sports-
but for the sport of eating.
...these people are hardcore-
even members of the international federation of competitive eating.

congrats joey chestnut...
the 2007 nathan’s famous worldwide hot dog-eating contest winner.

im glad to have the title in the hands of an american.
better luck next time, kobayashi...just work on getting that jaw better pal.

next years winner...
i think it will be sonya 'the black widow' thomas...after she goes home and trains a little harder.
i mean come on a 105 lb south korean woman who has ate 10% of her body weight in cheesecake and holds 29 world titles is fine by me.

afn video from tour...

it finally loaded.
enjoy.

the lost dance video...

...is found.

one of the funnest nights of the tour.
in kwaj after the army ball...all dressed up with no where to go-
but the bar on this tiny island.

dancing...

...makes me happy.
ex-specially in kwajalein with my husband.

you gotta love kids...

and im sure lucky to have some cute cousins...well ok- they are joel's- but mine now too.

last week when we were down in kansas we made a stop by tom and heidi's for some good ol' swashbuckling with ben


and dress up with margie.


you might remember ben, from his appearance in our wedding as the ring bear.

his little sister margie gets cuter everyday and i can't wait to see them again soon.

amish paradise...

pictures from my visit to amish country...

cupcakes...

ok so you all know how im pretty much obsessed with cupcakes.

it happened innocently as a child...simmered away as a grew- and is now back in full attack.

there are days when i can only think of how glorious it would be to just have one cupcake with pink icing and sprinkles.

well quiet sometime ago i remember reading about johnny cupakes in magazine, and then i quickly forgot.

today joel's mom just reminded me of his website.

he has an amazing story kids- you have to check it out. this boy is our age and started making some shirts and buttons for his friend's bands and went out on the road with them pedaling his johnny cupcakes gear- and is now super successful and has some of the coolest marketing i have seen. and has stores all over the world.

check it out friends!

i know i will be buying some cupcake gear today!

goodbye grandpa gene...

Oth Eugene Warrick

Born:
February 12, 1930

Died:
June 24, 2007

(this is the last picture i took of joel's grandpa gene at grandma's polka birthday party...it's one of my favorites- because it really shows his loving spirit.)

one of my favorite memories of him:

every time i saw gene for the last few years he would always say, "now what's your name again?" i would always say danelle and giggle. then he would always say, "well you are even more beautiful than i remembered."

you will be missed grandpa gene.

we love you...

-danelle and joel

home again...then gone again...

seems to be the story of my life lately.

home a week ago yesterday from my tour around the world.

got my hair did, switched suitcases and headed off to baltimore a day later to shoot pictures at my cousin juila's wedding in pennsylvania... oh and do make-up.

my dad and uncle picked me up from bwi...and i had no voice- from being horribly sick! we drove into intercourse, pennsylvania...yes that it's name- those pennsylvania dutch are crazy with naming towns- there is a virginvile, bird in hand and paradise all next towns over. ps- we stopped at chic-fil-a. god bless america!

did i mention this is amish country?

anyways the wedding went good-julia's fiance' broke his foot the week of the wedding- and was on crutches, but other than that- everything else went well.

the pictures turned out great, juila was a beautiful bride and it was awesome to see the petersen's/cramers again!

while on my way home i got the sad news that joel's grandfather gene passed away sunday night in kansas...joel had been down there that weekend and his family all got to talk to him and say some last goodbyes- but it broke my heart that i wasnt there for my husband.

the first time we have been apart since the wedding...and the last time- for a while if i have my way. i missed him entirely too much.

so i finally get home monday night at 7pm and have to turn around and go to work in the morning and ask for more time off after being gone for a month. i was stressed out- but it all worked out, my boss was cool- and said to take today off and come back when im home on friday or monday. thank god. im so glad i get to go- it would have really broken my heart if she said no.

so here i am taking a few things out of my suitcase from monday and adding a few new things...

someday i will be home...

at least for longer than 2 days.

here are a few raw photos from the wedding...unedited--more to load yet.

day 30-God bless America! We are home!!!

(i updated all of the photos from the past week- please see past blogs)

what a day...well a few of them i guess.

we lived monday june 18th twice. the first day was spent on the beach in kwaj and the second was spent traveling for 24 straight hours!

the flight from kwaj to honolulu was ok- we had a stop in majuro and got into hawaii about 2am. it was quiet the experience. the pa boxes came out on the carousel wet and broken open boxes. we were not excited to see that at all. all of the islanders checked about 50 coolers full of fish- and it appeared that some broke open on the flight and wet down missys suitcase and our pa!

we had to load all our stuff up- get through customs and get all of our gear up to the departures area...on small elevators. that was fun. the whole airport was closed so we had to wait around until 5am to get our stuff through the usda xray machine. but you better believe we were first in line. we later found out that continental should have taken all of our bags downstairs after customs because they were checked all the way to omaha. i was not happy to hear this. what a headache that would have saved me. and did i mention i have a horrible cold? not good.

anyways we made it though check in, got some burger king breakfasts and headed back in time to la!

we got to la- took a shuttle to our terminal and said goodbye to missy and josh in la and headed to omaha!

this was by far our favorite flight- maybe because it was our last flight home- but mostly because it was on midwest express. i love love love this airline. anyone that gives you big comfy leather chairs, extra leg room and hot chocolate chip cookies is ok by me.

our flight from la ended up being a 30 minutes late- but we were all so excited to be home.

it was good to see our families again and get our feet on some nebraska ground.

...now for the unpacking and laundry.

now i have to repack for a early thursday flight to baltimore for my cousin julia's wedding in that im taking pictures at in pennsylvania this weekend. im not looking forward to getting on a plane again- but at least this flight will be short and sweet and there will be lots of loved ones to see on the other end of this country waiting for me!