The Bookend

2010-11-13T09:02:00.002-05:00

Grateful....

Sun shining in the storm door.
A yummy breakfast with coffee.
A boyfriend who loves me.
A family who supports me.
A job.
And getting a haircut today.

Feeling like my life is ok. Looking forward to the day.

Public Acts of Music

2010-08-27T14:40:00.003-04:00

There is nothing I love more than to drive down the road on a gorgeous sunny day with music blaring and beautiful scenery. Hence the reason that today I was in absolute heaven.

I was driving down Beach with Barenaked Ladies "It's All Been Done" blaring from the speakers jamming along with them. The sun is shining and the breeze is (mostly) cool. I was coming up to a stop sign and noticed a man sitting at a picnic table by a brook playing his violin. I immedietly turned my music all the way down so I could hear him. Loved it! So great to see that. Just someone else enjoying the beautiful weather. Not 100 feet from him was another guy jamming out on his guitar. I was moving to quickly to hear him.

It just so happens that people playing music in public is another one of my favorite things. I'm not talking about concerts, but the random ones that you just encounter. I always love when I'm rushing to get down to the metro and I stumble upon someone playing music. It makes me just take myself a little less seriously and slow down.

Inevitably, I start thinking about what these people do during their "normal" lives that drives them out into the public to play their music. Do they do it for the tips (which I always give them because I appreciate them)? Or do they do it because they love what they do? I hope its the latter, but honestly can't blame them for wanting to make a buck.

I remember when I was in sixth grade and my class took a trip into NYC. My sister, Heather, met us at Penn Station and was a chaperone. I remember feeling so cool to have her there. Although there is a lot about that day that I remember (FAO Schwartz anyone?) there's one thing that I always think about. We were on the train going who know's where and a guy started singing a Christmas carol on the train. It was obvious he was homeless or else very needy and Heather handed me money to give to him. My teacher tried to stop me, but Heather still urged me on. The man had a wonderful voice and I'm glad I gave him the money.

Trash TV

2010-08-20T19:53:00.005-04:00

You know that feeling when you're watching TV that you recognize someone on TV, but you don't know from what? Well, tonight my boyfriend and I were watching The Real Housewives of NJ and I got that feeling about Danielle (one of the "housewives"). All of a sudden it hit me....

I know it's mean, but if you watch the show at all you'll start to see the similarities too. I had to blog this because I could not stop laughing....

Milestones

2010-06-08T15:45:00.002-04:00

I haven't really blogged about it, but I'm trying to lose weight. Like 30 lbs. worth. It's a hard thing and I've been working with a personal trainer for awhile trying to tone up. That didn't seem like enough and my boyfriend (who is also trying to lose weight) and I aren't the best at staying on the "healthy eating" track. So we also joined Weight Watchers Online.

I was suprised to say that I don't mind Weight Watchers and I actually enjoy the gym.

But this blog post was entitled MILESTONES so I will now explain.

I WALKED/JOGGED A MILE IN 14 MINUTES AND 48 SECONDS.

That's under 15 minutes.

That's amazing for me.

I have asthma and my doctor put me on Advair (daily inhaler that tastes like chaulk). It didn't feel like it was working and after a trip to physical therapy for an unrelated event my breathing was actually improving. So I stopped taking the Advair and told my doctor that too!

When I started walking on the treadmill I could barely stay on for 20 minutes and that certainly didn't make a mile. Then I built up to walking a mile around 35 minutes. I'm a pretty fast walker and I would keep a decent incline, but I still would walk really slowly towards the end. Recently I've started jogging on and off trying to build myself up. So I would jog for a few minutes and then walk again. This went ok, but I'm always worried about my asthma.

Yesterday, I got on the treadmill hit the speed up to a fast walk and turned on an incline of 3. I was booking it when I realized that the treadmill was telling me that I could make a mile in just OVER 15 minutes. I made up my mind to beat that and pumped up the treadmill to a jog. Just kept going and then made it a little faster. I was truly RUNNING at the end. Mind you it was only for 1 minute 30 seconds, but it was still me, little asthma girl, RUNNING!

Anyways, had to share because I felt pretty good about it.

Writing

2010-05-20T01:59:00.001-04:00

Everyday a million things happen to me. Little things. And usually amusing…at least to me. When they do I always think “I should blog this” and then forget about it when I get home. I think about all the great blogs and books I’ve read and think I could do that. I could write about the mundane things that happen in my day. Even if no one else finds them interesting.

The problem with this is that I work in a preschool. Nine little children are under my care everyday and that doesn’t really allow for the time to write down any little thoughts I have. So at night when I’m laying in bed trying to fall asleep memories start floating back in. I can never remember exactly what happened that made me want to write, but I know there was something. It’s so frustrating.

Right now it’s 1:31 a.m. and I’m sitting at my desk with a box of Wheat Thins and some American Cheese enjoying a late night snack. I had Taco Hell tonight for dinner (something I’m sure to regret tomorrow) which I haven’t had in FOREVER. My friend, Shannon, who happens to be one of the healthiest eaters I know, told me they had a Patatas Bravas in a soft taco! Had to try it. We were out anyway so we tracked down the nearest Taco Hell and had dinner together. It was pretty good considering I haven’t had it for about a year. I also drank a HUGE cup of Mountain Dew (which may explain my being up this late!). I think the Wheat Thins are a step up.

I got to do a little bit of shopping with Shannon before dinner and had so much fun. We went to H & M and I managed to find a few items for cheap. Also went to the Gap and got a FREE pair of jeans!!!! Wooo hoo! They had an awesome coupon that they were handing out IN STORE and then there was a sale pair of jeans for the amount my coupon was for. Turns out I love the straight leg jean! I would like to add here that the GAP is selling a pair of overalls! OVERALLS!!! When did they come back in fashion and who is buying them for $80!?!?!?!

I just looked up at the calendar and realized that my 28th birthday is less then a month away! WOAH! What happened to the time? I have to switch my license over to a MD license. I’ve had my SC one for as long as I’ve had a driver’s license. Weird to think I won’t anymore.

Father’s Day won’t land on my birthday for another five years because of a leap year. I always worry about that. When I was younger and my dad was living I used to hate having my birthday on Father’s Day. Now I’d give anything to share the day with my dad. So I’m happy that I won’t have to worry about it this year. Although this year I’d like to visit Arlington to put flowers down for my dad. I didn’t comment on his birthday…couldn’t. Here’s my favorite picture of my dad though.

Anyways I should probably try to go lay down now. Starting to feel tired! Finally! Hope everyone is doing well!

Sunless tanner...

2010-05-05T21:40:00.002-04:00

HAHAHAHA...I've been laughing about this since it happened and wish I had taken a picture!

I decided to try a sunless tanning spray to try and get that lovely "sun kissed" look. I'm trying to avoid tanning so I thought this was a good choice. I had read a couple of articles on which brands were the best and finally settled on Neutrogena's Micro-Mist. It sprays upside down which I thought was going to be a great thing since how else was I going to do my legs?

Anyways, it turned out that after looking for the product I found it on sale at CVS and finally bought it. It took me about a week and a half of the bottle sitting on the sink in my bathroom to get up the courage to try it. I followed all the directions (including trying it out on a part of my body beforehand). I showered and exfoliated blah blah blah. Then came the true test! I grabbed the bottle and decided on starting with my left arm (I'm a righty). First spray and it seemed pretty harmless. I had my boyfriend do my back since that seemed the safest way to get that part of my body even.

Here comes the funny part....I had to go babysitting and the stuff takes 2 -4 hours to actually show up. I figured that nothing terrible could happen and went about my day. I was sitting on the families couch watching TV when I looked over at my arm. No joke I thought I had broken out in some weird rash. I had apparently held the bottle too close to my left arm on the first spray and then I APPARENTLY touched my arm afterwards. I had an orange streak down my arm with white spots here and there!

Everyone I know has gotten a big kick out of it! I keep showing people because honestly I think you have to have a good sense of humor about these things. I knew it was a possibility. Thankfully, there are only a couple of other spots like that and none as bad as the one on my arm!

I did this Saturday and it's now faded!

Here we go…

2010-05-03T21:27:00.001-04:00

I’ve been busy this past weekend cleaning house, babysitting, nursery on Sunday, and hanging out with family Sunday afternoon. I had a great weekend, but I blinked and it was over. This week is no better. I have a workout tomorrow night and then on Friday night I babysit for a family with three boys (two who are twins and not my family!). I have the boys until Saturday afternoon while the parents go to stay downtown for their anniversary. I’m hoping it all goes smoothly!

Today I got off work early because I switched shifts with someone else. It was a welcome change! One of my roommates came home and told me that there was a birds nest in one of the lower bushes in our backyard. Apparently his cat had found it for him. Thankfully, the cat couldn’t get into the nest, but my hand could get close. These photos are a little blurry because I was trying not to touch anything! I could hear momma bird nearby making a whole mess of noise.

This was actually my second time out to the nest. The first time (without my camera) I was able to whistle and one of the babies stuck its head up with its mouth wide open. They are ugly cute!

My nana’s birthday…

…was tons of fun. Thought I would finally post a picture!

Otherwise, I haven’t been up to anything new. Work and babysit pretty much take up my time! Can’t wait till I get down to Myrtle Beach for Memorial Day weekend!

Overwhelmed

2010-04-21T23:14:00.002-04:00

I sat down to write a quick blog about feeling overwhelmed about nothing much in particular and remembered something else entirely.

My grandmother. She turned 90 this past Saturday! Ninety years old! Go Nana!!! My sister Heather and I surprised her (and everyone else in the family) and that was the word she said when she saw us. Overwhelmed. What a great reaction!

Anyway, now I don't feel so overwhelmed. I feel grateful.

A month…

2010-03-26T20:16:00.001-04:00

I can't believe a month has passed. When things happen in my day to day life I keep thinking "that would be good to put in my blog." But do I? Nope. I get home and completely forget about whatever it was that made me think that.

I can share that the biggest thing going on with me right now is that I'm in physical therapy. My shoulder had been hurting me for about a month (since I went sledding basically) and I finally went to the doctor. Turns out I strained my shoulder muscle at some point so now I’m going to physical therapy for a little while. It’s currently wrapped in tape to add extra support and take some of the tension off the muscle. I’m not sure how much good it does when I can’t seem to remember to keep the babies off that arm at work.

Other than that I don’t really know what else to add. I keep making promises to get better at this, but it just seems hard. Still trying to meet new people. Went to a dance class with one of my roommates friends. We had a good time, but I haven’t managed to get back out since then.

I’ve been given the gift of my friend as a personal trainer (it’s actually her job). I had my first session last night and since my shoulder is hurt we did mostly core and leg exercises. I almost fell down a flight of stairs today because of the trouble I was having walking. I didn’t know my legs could hurt that badly! Not to mention my ab muscles which want to die whenever I actually use them.

So between PT, family coming to visit, and various other things that seem to creep into my schedule I’ll try to get back to the blog. My sister told me to take pictures of the taped shoulder so here it is…

Moving On…

2010-02-20T22:42:00.001-05:00

Sorry about the last post but sometimes those things just need to be said so that you can move on from them. And that's what I'm doing right now.

I was so proud of myself earlier today! Tom (my boyfriend) and I were going to run our normal Saturday errands which consist of grocery shopping for the week and usually a Target run. I'm trying to save money so we've been skipping Target (which manages to suck hundreds of dollars from me) and just buying the necessities at Harris Teeter.

Anyways, in preparation of the grocery run I sat down to do a little menu planning. I only plan dinners because frankly Tom can figure out how to feed himself for the rest of the day. I just want to make sure I eat something we're really going to enjoy at the end of the day! I've also been on a Cooking Light kick. We bought their "Best of 2009" magazine the other day so I browsed through it for ideas. Needless to say all of my recipes ended up coming from Cooking Light because I managed to find four recipes that sounded relatively easy and yummy. (I only need four because of other randomness we have going on during the week.)

So here's what the menu looks like:
Sunday - Barbeque Sirloin and Blue Cheese Salad
Monday - Spice Ribbed Pork Tenderloin
Thursday - Barbeque Chicken with Mustard Glaze
Saturday - Cornflake-Crusted Chicken

I don't plan sides because I'm never sure what I'll want until I'm halfway through making dinner. We keep a number of Steamfresh veggies and pastas in the freezer that I usually fall back on. Not as good as fresh, but I've discovered I end up throwing out the fresh stuff before I can use it.

So after coming up with the menu and then getting a list together I remembered that Harris Teeter was doing double coupons. I've tried using coupons before, but never really mastered it. However, the double coupons was for any coupon with a face value of $1.98! That's huge! So I went through the communal coupon keeper we have for anything I could use. I ended up finding a ton of coupons for $1 and many more for amounts under that for stuff we actually needed.

With that we departed to the grocery store with our reusable bags. After all was said and done (and we used our store discount card thingy) we saved a total of $43.67!!!! WOW!!! I was so proud of myself I did a little wiggly dance in the checkout line. Our grocery store card thingy saved us $22.67 cause I actually paid attention to the brands that were on sale and tried to be smart about that. That means though that our coupons saved us $21!!!! For never using coupons I was pretty proud of myself!

Anyways, I had to share this experience because I never have days like that at the grocery store. If you live near a Harris Teeter grab some coupons and GO!

2010-02-19T23:20:00.000-05:00

i miss my dad

...sometimes those are the hardest words to write

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T16:29:00.002-05:00

So this post was originally supposed to be up like two days ago, but for one reason or another I'm just getting to it. And with that I figured I'd better add a Happy Valentine's message.

Anyway, the original post was going to be about a trip to the supermarket. My sister, Lauren, and I are the two sisters in our family that live closest to each other. Oddly enough that does not mean that we see each other all that often. She has three wonderful children that I am blessed to get to see often and watch them grow. Caedmon, who is three, has grown to be a smart and sweet boy who loves to "butter" people (he got me the other night while I was putting him into his pj's). I love that he has his own inside joke that he thinks is very funny! The twins, Aldan and Theron, have started developing their own personalities as well as different physical abilities. I love that Aldan followed me through the house and wanted me to hold him; and Theron leans in for more and more kisses!

My brother-in-laws birthday was yesterday and so Lauren and I had planned for me to babysit on Friday night so that they could go out. Jon came and picked me up at work (very generously) and then went back to their house. Caed hadn't taken a nap and the twins were all excited that I was there. I ate some dinner and then Lauren and Jon left. I got all the children to bed, watched a little TV, and Lauren and Jon came home a short time later.

All this to tell you that Lauren and I stopped at the grocery store on the way back to my house. Lauren asked me to go with her for the company and also so that she would actually stop. We pulled in totally unaware of whether the grocery store was actually open or not (turned out it was). We went inside and Lauren and I had a brief discussion about whether or not we needed a cart. I convinced her to just get a handbasket and then the trouble started. I only have a picture to show what happened the rest of the time we were there....and with the picture all that needs to be added was that Lauren and I broke into fits of laughter several times, bumped butts and heads, and took forever picking up very few items. With that...here is the pic.

And yes...that's a "Customer in Training" child's cart!

The Call

2010-02-09T19:15:00.003-05:00

So for the past three nights I've been waiting for a phone call...from my boss. A call about school closings. When I was younger I remember sitting in front of the window with the TV on in the background. I would wait for the TV to announce that we had finally gotten enough snow to close down my school.

For the past three nights I've gotten the call that our school is closed. The last one came about ten minutes ago. I have to say that as an adult snow days are not as much fun. We've ventured out a few times during all this crazy snow, but for the most part I feel that I have to accomplish things while stuck at home. I've done all the laundry and managed to cook some really yummy meals, but otherwise lack the drive to really keep working. Stir crazy takes over and I get distracted. So now I'm looking at another day at home. I need to be WAY more productive tomorrow. I'm thinking a pot of coffee in the morning along with an egg sandwich and then I'll come up with something really tasty for lunch too.

Tom is at the firehouse until Thursday so I'm only responsible for myself.

The snow didn’t hold me down!

2010-02-08T16:36:00.001-05:00

It seems that there was going to be an unending amount of snow… and we’re not done yet! I have been a maniac taking pictures of all the pretty snow and the fun we’ve been having. I’m super excited right now because I have a SNOW DAY tomorrow!

I remember when I was younger and would watch out the window of our house in New York just waiting for them to call school. It usually didn’t happen since NY was always on top of things! DC was not so lucky! We did see snow plows early on and they kept coming, but there was just no way to keep up with all the snow!

I’m lucky enough that three of my four male roommates got out and shoveled our driveway (several times)! I did get out there and shovel as well, but didn’t do nearly as much as they did. We ventured out a couple of times for a walk and then to go get dinner and play pool at Union Jacks in Bethesda. We walked down the middle of Rockville Pike in order to get around and really enjoyed how quiet it was!

So here is just a small sampling of the photos I’ve taken…

These first two photos are from the first snow storm we had on January 30th. Tom and I took a walk to downtown Bethesda!

We had another snow fall on February 3rd. I took a few photos the next morning while waiting for the bus!

Finally, these photos are from the most recent blizzard!! Including when we made it out to go play pool!

View Full Album

It turns out I wanted to include too many photos and since I’ve started using Windows Live Writer to see if that helps me feel better about the way blogger works it gave me the option of doing a photo album! Fun stuff! We’ll see if I like that better!

Hope everyone enjoyed that update! More to come!

New Camera!!! New Pictures!!!

2010-01-23T15:37:00.003-05:00

My boyfriend came through for me in the most amazing way this Christmas! He bought me a new digital camera!!! WOOOO HOOO!!! So excited. Anywhoo this means that I should be posting more often. A confession here though: I have thought about ending this blog. I am confused (in all honesty) with the formatting and never get my page to look how I want it to look. I have trouble with the pictures and figuring out how to get them where I want them to be in the blog. So I thought about stopping. Then I just figured that anyone reading this would forgive me for the blog not looking perfect and read what I had to say and the pictures I had posted. I will not be posting as many pictures as I used to because I think I like it better when there are fewer pictures and more about what people think. Ok....done rambling.

Christmas was a lot of fun with my boyfriend's family although I was homesick for the three-ring-circus that is a Merrill/Adare Christmas! I got lots of fun stuff and even got to go sledding (which by the way hurts a lot more now that I'm older!). New Years passed in a blur with a quiet party with a few friends at our house and lots of yummy food! Onto a new year and a new me! I signed up for a gym membership (something I didn't really think I would ever do) and resolved to lose the 30 lbs. that have been reminding me I no longer fit into my old clothes!

Other than that I've been doing great! Enjoying a visit with my mom where we went to the botanical gardens here in DC. All the Amaryllis are blooming and inside felt like it was ninety degrees! Work has been busy and in a short time we'll be preparing to transition our kids to another room!

I have to post this one picture though of something that just happened today!

And in case you can't tell what you're looking at...that's my boyfriend getting my cat out of a tree. He's about 25 feet off the ground in a very old and dried out tree! What a trooper! I would have let the cat stay up there, but it was stressing him out.

All photos taken with my cell phone....

2009-12-22T20:23:00.012-05:00

I only posted ten days ago? I feel like it's been ages already and that so much has happened! Life feels like sometimes its moving in fast forward and that I'm not moving fast enough with it. I think Christmas time always feels like that. So rushed until the actual day and then all of a sudden it's like you hit a wall and life returns to "normal" (whatever that means).

My boyfriend and I decided we were not going to get a Christmas tree this year since we were going to be really busy and not really home enough to make it worth it. We did do a little bit of decorating though! Although I don't know that I really have new readers or people that don't know me reading this I'll add here that I live in a house with five guys and we all have a stocking (Ethan's is blue since he's technically Jewish, but celebrates Christmas with his grandmother!). You can see the stack of gifts off to the left where I'd been piling as I went.

For me the "Christmas crunch" starts when I realize that another Christmas is approaching and I haven't started my shopping yet. I feel like every year I vow to start shopping earlier and find gifts that are truely "original". So this Christmas season began for me just like all the rest. Only a little more pressure. This Christmas I am going to be spending it with my boyfriend's family and so I really felt that I needed to find gifts that suited people. I actually did about 3/4 of my shopping online and it worked out beautifully. No sprint to the last blue sweater on the shelf or a mindless hunt for a pair of earring that someone "will actually wear." I took my time and used mainly three websites! Amazon, Red Envelope, and Uncommon Goods. Red Envelope's customer service is enough of a reason to order products from them. And Uncommon Goods (for people who like to be green) does a lot of reclaimed products. Anyways, I managed to finish all my Christmas shopping (and suprisingly received everything) yesterday! I have one tiny gift left to wrap and I'm all done. Wooo hooo! No Christmas Eve shopping for me!

These next two photos are the before and after of the Blizzard we just had....YES A BLIZZARD! It was totally crazy and even crazier that I ventured out into it. But after it was over I had fun sledding for the first time in FOREVER and I actually shoveled (a very small portion of) a driveway for the very first time! The snow was so much fun and I'm excited that it will be so pretty at Christmas time!

As I just mentioned I had ventured out into the snow to try and get to my boyfriends house. This picture was as the metro doors were closing, but can you see the icicles hanging off of the light?!?! It was crazy cold and the snow just kept coming down.

This year I decided that I wanted to go to the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. Of course, this was the year that DC decided to change how you get tickets and did a lottery. I woke up at 2:32 in the morning and signed up for it. I promptly went back to bed. But a few weeks later I had an envelope with two tickets! I was so excited! I had to leave work early and had to wait like two hours for it to start. But I cannot tell you how much fun it was to be there for the event.

The picture on the right is the view we had. Way up front about dead center of the picture is one of the viewing screens (there was another closer to us on the right) and you can obviously see the tree. If I stood on tiptoe I could see the stage and kinda see people moving around on it. So this is as close as I will ever get to the President because he was moving around on that stage somewhere.

Obviously, this is the tree all lit up. The picture is zoomed in and shot with my phone so it's really blurry! And what's an adventure without a picture of me and my boyfriend! We had an amazing time and I was so grateful to be there for it!

That's it folks! I forgot how long it took to put pictures in a blog and arrange them the way you actually want them! I'll post more after Christmas! Until then I hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2009-12-12T21:03:00.002-05:00

I've been SUPER busy lately (as most of us are at this time of year) with many different things.

1. Work is particularly busy and I've been bringing it home with me.

Around this time of year we start preparing our holiday gifts for the parents. It usually involves a photo of their child and a frame with four million pieces that we put together. This year because we got sort of a late start I volunteered to take home the gift and do it. Surprisingly, it didn't take long and wasn't hard to do (thankfully!). That only took me one night and I was able to bring it back into work the next day. Now we are almost done with that!

On this same note though I was asked to help another classroom with their holiday gift. I didn't want to say no so I have those sitting at home waiting to be completed tomorrow at some point. Now to figure out a way to keep my cat from stepping in the glitter glue!

My boss also asked if I would have a chance to update the front bulletin board at work. Turned out that I actually had time and managed to get it finished in two days! That did not require that I bring anything home and was very simple to do. The oldest children made snowmen for the board and it came out absolutely adorable!

2. Related to "bringing work home with me" is that I've been babysitting a lot recently. Within the last two weeks I've had several babysitting jobs and they haven't ended yet (I am actually babysitting right now!). Around this time of year many of the parents at our school have various work parties and such to attend which is good news to me! I even had the opportunity to take care of two little girls (sisters) over a whole weekend. That seemed daunting at first, but turned out to be a lot of fun! It's a nice way to earn a little extra Christmas money!

3. I've been trying to finish up some school work for my CDA course that I'm still trying to get through. Now that all my Christmas shopping is done and I have a little more free time heading my way (I'm only babysitting one night next week) I should be able to get done!

Anyways, I miss having a camera to update pictures on here! I got glasses for the first time in my life about a month ago and actually love them. It's amazing the difference they make!

Hopefully, I'll update again soon! Hope everyone is doing well!

A Walk

2009-10-28T21:24:00.002-04:00

I know that I've disappeared, but nothing has really been going on. So I just decided to ignore the fact that I've been missing forever and pick up from today. I don't know how long I'll be around this time, but I can promise that I'll be back more frequently!

This evening after I left work at 6 p.m. I decided to walk from my work to the Friendship Heights Metro station. I neglected to think about the fact that at 6 p.m. it gets dark REALLY quickly or that at that hour not as many people are coming home from work. So I headed out and was moving rather quickly. I managed to do the walk in about 45 minutes (its a 2.3 mile walk so Google Maps tells me) and felt really good by the time I arrived.

On my walk I noticed that the pine trees were starting to really smell good and totally puts me in the mood for a snowy night, a fire, and a cup of hot chocolate. I'm really excited for this winter for no apparent reason now!!!! I can't wait to decorate for Christmas (especially since it seems I won't be going home) and get in the holiday spirit!

My boyfriend and I also purchased train tickets to go visit my sister in PA for Thanksgiving!!! I am really excited about this trip since it'll be a trial run for my bf and I taking the train together. We'll only be up there for three days or so, but my family is getting together at my cousins house for the actual holiday meal. Really looking forward to the time away too!!

Hope everyone is doing well and still checking in with me!

Just has to congratulate Kater!!!

2009-09-21T07:09:00.000-04:00

4th and 5th Days

2009-08-05T17:49:00.003-04:00

Tuesday morning Tom and I woke up super early and went for a walk down to the local Starbucks. We grabbed our coffees and headed back to the house. No one else really got up till around 9 so we had bowls of cereal and tried to decide what to do with the rest of our day.

Once everyone else got up we all threw on bathing suits and went down to the beach. We hung around down there for a few hours (I found a ton of shells snorkeling along the edge of the surf). We decided to do lunch out at the same restaurant we had gone to for brunch the first day we came into town. We had a nice relaxing lunch and then decided that we would all split up. Tom's mom, sisters, and I went shopping at some of the local shopping centers and just hung out together. Tom, his dad, and brother went to the grocery store to pick up supplies for dinner (homemade individual pizzas) and then came home. It was a nice relaxing day and night with no big eventfulness!

That brings me to this morning : Wednesday

We woke up this morning with plans to originally go parasailing (cannot tell you how much I obessesd about that out of nervousness), but discovered that there were no more times left until noon. The boys and Tom's youngest sister all had plans to do a boat tour at one so that was out. We ended up renting waverunners which was a lot of fun (I was totally nervous about that too!). The water was a little choppy, but Tom made sure I felt safe and we had a lot of fun. We came back to the house and I rested and read my book (Time Traveler's Wife) while everyone else headed off for the tour. Tom's mom and older sister were out at some gallery so when they came home we went down to the beach together. I think everyone is basically caught up now!!! I'll blog again as soon as possible and I've taken a bunch more pics with my camera phone. I'll upload those pics when I can.

3rd Day : Monday

2009-08-04T12:46:00.002-04:00

Monday morning I slept in and woke up to find that everyone (I found out later Tom's siblings were still here) was gone. I looked on both the front and back porches and when I still hadn't found anyone I ran across the street to the beach. I found Tom's parents walking along together, but decided to take a short walk down the beach by myself in the opposite direction. I ended up walking only a short distance before seeing this GIANT bird (identified a short time later as a Blue Heron) that was just walking along the edge of the water about three feet from a guy fishing on the shore.

I was curious about jellyfish and the local fish that swim around here (not to mention the GIANT bird that the guy barely seemed to notice) so I started up a conversation. I asked the guy if it was normal that the bird was that close and he informed me that the "Blue Heron" is a beggar and knows that the fisherman are the guys with the food. He also told me they are lazy and would rather wait for someone to feed them. I asked about the jellyfish (he said they aren't normally around at this time of year) and about some local fish (he was fishing for Snook). I continued walking for a little while looking for various shells and then noticed Tom come down to the beach. I walked back to meet and him and found that he had gone for a job.

We (Tom, myself, and his siblings) had decided the previous day that we would bike to the local movie theater to go see "The Ugly Truth." Now, we had clocked this ride at 10 miles when we went over there the day before, but it had not occurred to any of that a bike ride at one in the afternoon might not be the brightest decision we've ever had. We had decided to go to the movie to avoid being out in the sun the whole afternoon. HA HA HA HA!!!! VERY FUNNY!!! Because the whole of the bike ride was in the sun. Thank the Lord we had all slathered on sunscreen like it was going to save our lives because we basically ROASTED in the sun. I apparently had put on just the right amount because I never burned and my tan darkened nicely. The movie was funny (although a little crude). We all walked out of the nicely air conditioned theater and resumed our 10 mile bike ride back to the house.

I have resumed my new workout plans for when I get home with reckless abandon because I can honestly say that not once on the trip did I have to stop because I was having trouble breathing. I stopped because I was hot and needed water ;) Did I mention our bikes had the cutest little baskets on the front? Anyway, we got back to the house and basically did nothing. We were all too hot and sweaty to go back out into the sun.

We all helped make a homemade dinner of spaghetti with a some zucchini and squash in the sauce and garlic bread. It was delicious!!! Afterwards we all either read, watched tv, or basically headed right to bed.

It was a great (although extremely hot) day!

2nd Day : Sunday

2009-08-04T12:20:00.002-04:00

Tom's older sister and I were actually trying to figure out a church service to go to because there were a few that looked good. We ended up staying up late and his sister, A, didn't get up in time. I, on the hand, was awake at 6:30 in the morning. We got up and went out to the back of the hosue and down the path that leads to the bay side of the island. We watched the sun come up while sitting on the dock. It was gorgeous and afterwards we walked over to the beach and walked along the gulf. It was a nice relaxing morning.

Tom and I talked to his mom and then went for coffee at a local Starbucks. We were supposed to find a "local" grocery store, but could never actually find it and ended up back at the General Store. We bought milk, cereal, and a few other random things we might need. Tom and I headed back to the house and had a bowl of cereal and waited for everyone else to wake up.

Everyone got into their bathing suits and we all went back down to the beach for a little while. Afterwards, we "kids" decided to go find a bike rental place that was down the street from the hosue we're staying in. The place wasn't too far and we each got our own bikes to ride (the girls bikes have baskets!!!) and rode back to the house. I was determined that we could bike everywhere after that moment, but the next day was to prove me wrong about that.

We went out with Tom's mom and siblings to the real grocery store and found all the necessities for making sandwiches and a few dinners. We came back to the house and made sandwiches for lunch and basically hung out for the rest of the afternoon. Whatever everyone wanted to do was what they did. Some went to the pool, some went to the beach, some took a nap (anyone else thinks this sounds like "This little piggy"?). It was a nice relaxing afternoon.

We made barbeque chicken and broccoli for dinner and stayed in for the evening too! We watched the sun set over the Gulf which was absolutely beautiful!!!

Florida Day by Day

2009-08-04T09:00:00.002-04:00

I promised myself that I would blog about this trip so that I wouldn't forget anything and so that my family could read about it instead of me trying to remember everything. Not to mention repeating the story to about 10 different family members. I'm here until Thursday (today is Tuesday) so I'm not quite finished with my vacation yet. But I figured I would do the days a little at a time.

Day 1 : Saturday

Tom and I got up at the crack of dawn to load up the car and get ready to leave for our flight. Thankfully, I was already completely packed and just had to get myself ready. We left our house around 7 a.m. and headed out to the airport. We made it through baggage check and security (and the airport breakfast at McDonald's) with only about fifteen minutes until our flight. We found Tom's family at our gate and got in line to board with them. The plane was PACKED, but thankfully we found seats together. The flight was uneventful and I read/slept most of the way. We landed in Fort Myers, grabbed our baggage, got the rental cars, met up with Tom's sister and brother (who were on a different flight that landed about one hour after us) and we were off to the island.

It took us about 30 minutes to find the road that would lead us out onto Sanibel Island. Tom, his sister, brother, and I were all in the convertible (could you ask for a better car at the beach?). Tom's parents were driving in an SUV with Tom's younger sister. We all decided that stopping for lunch before we got to the house. We stopped at a cute little restaurant for brunch. Everyone hopped back in the car and we were finally on our way to the house. We are staying in an attached house, but the neighbors are VERY nice and we cannot hear them at all through the walls.

The house is beautiful. The whole house is beachy. I'll try and take some photos and blog them (Tom brought is camera), but we'll see if I remember to do that.

We all figured out which bedrooms would be ours and immedietely dug into our suitcases, located our bathing suits, and headed down to the beach. The water was WARM!!! Probably warmer than any bath I have ever taken. How warm was it? Warm enough that it felt better to get out of the water than to be in it. We hung out down at the beach for awhile then headed back up to the house to shower and change. We all realized fairly quickly that we were going to have to invest a small fortune in sunscreen since we went through almost an entire bottle in one afternoon.

After everyone cleaned up we went out in search of dinner. About three miles up the road from us is a little General Store. Attached to that was a restaurant that, by appearances, looked like it would serve burgers and beer. Once inside the restaurant we realized that it was a lot nicer than we had thought. The manager told us that it would be about 15 minutes till we could have a table. We noticed later that there was an occupancy limit on the place of 24 people and we would have pushed them over the limit. The manager offered us a glass of wine or beer and said that we could take it down to the beach if we wanted. We all accepted a drink of some sort and decided just to hang out at the bar they had. We checked the menu and realized even further what a nice restaurant we were at. Once seated at the table we immedietely ordered our food. It was DELICIOUS!!!! Everything was beautifully displayed and delicious to eat. We all shared bites of our food with each other.

We stopped at the little General Store after dinner and picked up a few snacks and necessities to have at the house until we could get to a grocery store. We headed back to the house and everyone relaxed with books or TV until we all slowly trickled away to bed.

FLORIDA!!!

2009-08-03T20:46:00.003-04:00

I have never been to Florida before.....NOW!!!! Woo hoo!!! My boyfriends family was nice enough to invite me on their family vacation to Sanibel and Captiva Islands on the Gulf side of Florida. If you haven't been I strongly suggest you add it to the "places to be seen" list! It's beautiful and peaceful. It's known for finding shells just laying all over the beach. There are turtle nests everywhere right now (unfortunetly they aren't supposed to hatch for another 45 days). It's just amazingly cool!!!

I took a few photos with my cell phone (still haven't replaced the broken digital camera).

My Camera Problem

2009-06-27T18:27:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure if anyone is still reading my blog since I haven't posted in forever. An update from me though is that my camera has gone capute! It stopped working half way through a bus tour through DC (yes I live here but it was my nephew's three year old birthday request)! I'm aware that I can blog without pictures, but I'm not very good at it. So I may not be back again until I either figure out how to take pictures that are good quality with my phone; or get a new camera.

Other than that everything is fine. The summer is amazing! I still love my job! So I'll be back with updates...or maybe I'll just start with where my life is now!

Talk to you soon!

2009-05-16T15:42:00.002-04:00

I've gone missing!!! I just realized it's been forever since I've blogged. I feel like most of my friends in blogland have had the same problem lately. I personally like to blame the warming weather to everyone's distractions. Unfortunately, I think it's more related to a crazy schedule and my body's lack of sleep.

Lately I've been sleeping horribly. A mix of weird dreams and not going to sleep early enough. This past week I tried going to bed around 9:30 or 10. Sounds great! But about 3 or 4 every morning I wake up with the strangest dreams. For those of you that don't know I am a preschool teacher in DC. I take care of the little guys at the school (3 months - 1 1/2 years old). Well, it seems that I've been dreaming about the kids and when I wake up (because I think I hear them crying) I can't seem to realize that they aren't actually with me. Then I have to wake all the way up to figure out what's happening. Once I realize that I'm at my house (where there are NO children) then it takes me forever to go back to sleep. If I stay up later then I wake up still feeling groggy and cranky.

The crazy schedule has everything to do with a whole lot of babysitting. I babysat four nights the week before last week and three nights this past week. Not terribly late nights but wearing after having worked all day with small children. God bless the people who work with children and then go home to take care of their own. It takes an amazing amount of strength and energy.

Ok...I have to go clean. Its the weekend and that's what I do.

Introducing....

2009-04-01T06:44:00.004-04:00

Aldan Douglas Peterson (8 lb 7 oz 20.5")

.. and
Theron David Peterson ( 7 lb 9 oz 20.75")

A blonde and a brunette!!!

The Twins....

2009-03-31T07:57:00.002-04:00

are coming today!!! I am getting ready to leave my house to head to the hospital to be with my sister, Lauren, who will be delivering at some point today!!! Can't wait to meet these little babies and see whether I'll have more nieces or nephews! I'll take lots of pictures (for the family that's not going to be here) and make sure I report back later tonight!!!! Woooo Hoooo the day has finally come!

And an early HAPPY EASTER!!!

2009-03-21T19:12:00.003-04:00

A trip to Target netted me these yummies!!!
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!

A Day with my Nephew (and my boyfriend)

2009-03-21T19:06:00.003-04:00

I got to spend an afternoon with my nephew, Caedmon, and my boyfriend around downtown DC. We had fun in the Museum of Natural History and taking him on the metro. We had to take a picture in front of the fish tank which Caed named "Sea Garden." He liked the big elephant, but when I asked him to stand in front of it he couldn't stop trying to look up.

These last two pictures are kind of funny for those that know me. The jellyfish is a throw back to me getting stung by a Portuguese-man-of-war. And the deep sea rover below is a tribute to my dad. He was Canadian (or as he joked a Comedian).

Chocolate Chip Waffles....

2009-03-10T07:16:00.000-04:00

...make for a great morning!

The Twins Baby Shower

2009-03-03T19:31:00.004-05:00

So my sister, Lauren, is expecting twins in exactly a month and three days. TWINS!!! In case, I have not talked about that on my blog enough. Everyone in the family is waiting on tip toes to see whether she's having boys, girls, one of each, or whatever. hee hee hee....

Anyways, my sister, Heather, and I threw her a Diaper Baby Shower. This basically just means that everyone brought a case, pack, whatever amount of diapers they could and some wipes for the new little ones. We played an amazing shower game where you melt different chocolate candy bars into diapers and then close them up and everyone has to smell them and guess what candy bar they were. The resulting pictures of all these women putting their noses in the diapers is histerical and totally worth it. So the pictures are a little jumbled below because for whatever reason blogger didn't feel like uploading them correctly. Hope everyone enjoys....

...and for Lauren, I have the rest to send you. RESIZED!!!!

Catching Up Photos

2009-03-03T19:26:00.002-05:00

So here are some of the random pics from the busy night post the other day. The new crock pot with the amazing roast in it. My niece and nephew playing with my boyfriends fireman helmet (he's a volunteer). And a couple of photos of the BEAUTIFUL flowers he gave me.

Out of time

2009-02-23T21:49:00.002-05:00

I had plans to upload photos to my laptop, edit their size, and do another post. But somewhere in the mix of getting dinner done (for myself and three other people in my house) and ironing shirts for my boyfriend it just didn't happen.

I put a pot roast on to cook this morning. I was impressed with myself for two reasons: (1) I had made a pot roast only once before this and it didn't come out that great so trying again is a big step for me. Normally I wouldn't try again for a long time. (2) I had to work today so it required me prepping the night before. I took of picture of this one though because it came out AMAZING! Thanks to a few suggestions by my sisters, Heather and Lauren, it came out way better than the first time. A side of Pillsbury crescent rolls was the perfect addition.

My sister, Lauren, is pregnant with twins (in case I haven't mentioned that) and her baby shower was this past weekend. We had a really nice time and I have plenty of pictures. We played an amazingly funny game that made all the work worth it.

Anyways, I have pictures and stories to tell, but I'm tired and about 4 minutes from bedtime. So for tonight I'm going to bed. I have uploaded the pictures, but they need to be resized so until then hope everyone is doing well.

The Valentine

2009-02-15T15:10:00.002-05:00

I can't promise I'll be sending those Valentines out anytime soon. I've made 18 of them in the past two weeks and can't quite bring myself to have to make more. Although I will try to send them eventually. It'll be a surprise Valentine! Sorry guys... and I promise to post again soon! Thanks for being patient with me!

WOOOO HOOO - - A NEW BLOG!!!

2009-02-11T21:33:00.004-05:00

So I've been crazy busy lately which is why I haven't blogged in so long. I've actually really miss it and I keep thinking of all these random things to blog. So onward with my random posts all at once!!!

I decided to move my entire bedroom around in an effort to make my room feel better. I hated the way it was set up previously and needed a change. Along with that though several other house modifications were done. My boyfriend (who just happens to be one of my five housemates) and I share a bathroom. I decided we needed a shelf for some reason and so we went in search of one. I didn't want anything fancy so we ended up with just a ledge. I love it. So I blogged it. I put a whole bunch of randomness on the shelf and love what it adds to the bathroom.

I know, I know. A picture of my toilet. Why you ask? Well, our toilet had been making this really annoying running water sound and we couldn't figure out why. We could have told our landlords, but sometimes with them it's just easier to fix things ourselves. We went out and bought something called the "toiletmaster." I kid you not...that's what it's called. Anyway... it was really easy and we totally did it together. We felt like champions when we turned the water back on and the toilet filled without any annoying sounds or major issues. Woo hoo for do-it-yourself plumbing!

A spur of the moment decision to drive up to Pennsylvania to help my sister netted me an evening with six children who were a pleasure to spend time with. My boyfriend and I drove up late one Thursday night because my sister was going to be by herself (her husband was out of town on business) for her kids sleepover. We joked around and then next thing I knew we were both in the car driving up. It was SO much fun to be spontaneous. We had a blast hanging out with Heather, running errands, playing with the kids, and just relaxing. This is a photo of all of them while they were eating dinner while watching a movie.

The following two photos are purely for my mother. I work at a preschool (in case you didn't know that) and with Valentines day coming we are busy making all sorts of things for the parents. This card is a close version to the one that my mother had us give to everyone when we were little. I couldn't remember exactly what it looked like and so I did my best. I told her I would take a picture and send it to her. Obviously, the first one is closed and the second one is the card opened. It turned out really cute for the kids.

I can't really think of many other things to talk about right now. I am all out of ideas. These are the ones that I took pictures of so it's easiest to remember. All right.... enough for tonight.

Busy, Busy, Busy....

2009-02-08T23:07:00.000-05:00

and that's why I haven't posted. Hopefully I'll find some time really soon! Miss all of you and hope everyone is doing well!!! I will catch up with everyone soon!

Ice Skating

2009-01-12T12:56:00.004-05:00

Yesterday my boyfriend and I took my two year old nephew ice skating at the National Gallery Sculpture Garden in downtown DC. It was a blast.

He was super excited when we asked him if he wanted to go. I thought that he was going to be nervous when we finally got him there and on the ice, but he wasn't. He kept telling me he was "Ok" and that he wanted to go. When we finally got him on the ice (after we did a few practice rounds each by ourselves) his legs were flaling (did i spell that right?) all over the place. It was histerical. He thought it was a ton of fun though and didn't want to get off the ice once we got on. We took him around and around until my boyfriend and I were cold and sore from holding him up.

We had so much fun and I was sure he was exhausted after we were done. He did not want to take the skates off and kept telling me "It's ok Auntie April. I don't have to." I had gotten him a cookie though for afterwards and had it ready in my purse which made him very happy. I have some pictures and a small video that I will have to upload soon. It was so much fun though.

I asked Caed to take the picture, but all he wanted to do was watch the Zamboni.

Caed and I hamming it up for the camera at the end.

New Year, New Look

2009-01-10T22:30:00.002-05:00

I decided my blog needed a new look!!! It's a new year so why not??? I've also been toying with the idea of dying my hair red (although my hair has been blonde since birth!). Haven't totally settled on the idea yet, but I'm getting there.

Nothing to update other than that. Let me know what you think of the new design. I promise to blog more with better content. Lately that's been a struggle.

Holiday Ending

2009-01-04T19:21:00.002-05:00

Just sitting here going through all my e-mails and wishing that the holidays were not over. Now that New Years' has come and gone I feel kind of sad. I have been enjoying having days off from work and everyone being in a good mood. People out in public seem to be in a better mood too! Everyone saying "Happy New Year" and smiling...but now it's come to an end.

Tuesday is my boyfriends birthday and then Valentine's day is coming up soon too! I think it is funny that no retail space will let you forget that when Christmas and New Years' ends - Valentine's Day is right around the corner. And then after that it's Spring!!! I loved, when I worked for the Gap, how right after Christmas we would get a "Pre-Spring" shipment in. Just a taste of what was to come. It always made me feel like the warm weather was right around the corner.

My Christmas was great and New Years' followed suit. We lost power on New Years' Eve for a few hours, but once it came back on my bf and I got dressed and went out as planned. No harm, no foul.

I'm looking forward to a New Year. Expectations set high! Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Vaca Part 1

2008-12-24T11:52:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

My gifts still need to be wrapped, but I'm sitting on the couch watching a rerun of Top Chef and playing on the computer.

I decided (after watching an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition where they were talking about it) to go online and check it out. It seemed simple enough to write letters and send care packages to a soldier overseas to help them feel more connected. Being Christmastime and all I just thought that it would be good to give back a little.

Enough with being on my soap box....

It's 65 degrees outside right now and I am freaking out!!! It's 45 degrees back home in Maryland and for that I'm glad to be down here.

My wonderful boyfriend was down here visiting with me until last night. He had to go back to have Christmas with his family. We had fun just hanging out and being tourists. I loved getting to drive around again on roads I'm familiar with!! We even got to go down to the beach for a walk and to take a couple of pictures.

Wooo Hooo!!!

2008-12-12T23:02:00.001-05:00

So the Nutcracker was AMAZING!!! I took illegal pictures because there were signs posted everywhere that no cameras or cell phones were allowed to be used. It was AMAZING!!! The whole ballet was Americanized so there was one scene in the Springtime Act where they had a couple dressed as Algonquin Indians. There dance was BEAUTIFUL!!! I could not believe how beautiful it was - the lighting made it so much more dramatic too! It was just AMAZING - I can't stop saying it. The theatre (which is basically all I could take pictures of) was beautiful too and made it that much more beautiful. It was at the Warner Theatre which has a TON of history.

(above) The top of the staging area
(below) The ceiling - sorry about the weird shot but I had to be sneaky

(above and below) The side staging areas

This last one is what the stage looked like when we arrived. It was beautiful!!!

Did I mention that it was AMAZING!!!

SNOW!!!

2008-12-08T17:54:00.004-05:00

We threw a Christmas party at my house Saturday night and it snowed! We still have the pumpkins from Halloween - they haven't gone bad yet! We had decorated the outside of the house with lights and it was just too pretty to miss!

And when it snows I always think of this...

THE NUTCRACKER!!!

2008-12-03T22:11:00.002-05:00

So my wonderful boyfriend bought tickets for us to go see the nutcracker on December 11. I am totally excited! I did a little reading up on it and the reviews are great! It's a "fresh take" on it and they cast George Washington as the Nutcracker and King George III as the Rat King. Should be fun! I am totally excited! I've never been to see a live ballet before.

2008-11-30T08:34:00.002-05:00

THIS IS A REPOST FROM SEPTEMBER. I DIDN'T EDIT IT AT ALL SO EXCUSE THE ODDNESS OF IT. HOPEFULLY THIS WORKS OUT - IF NOT SISTERS CALL ME!

So I have no idea what the family plans are for Christmas this year ... where anyone will be or what sisters will be around. But my sisters and I decided to start this thing last year where we buy "stocking stuffers" for each other. I decided to do it early this year so that we can get a potential head start on it.

So the breakdown goes like this:

Kiki buys for Heather
Heather buys for April
April buys for Lauren
Lauren buys for Kiki

If there are sisters that aren't going to be with the family then I guess we can ship them (or since I just talked to Heather and it sounds like plans are in MB and Lauren is the only one not scheduled to be there I can ferry things down) or something! But either way I thought it would be fun if we did it again. So have fun with it!

Crazy Eights

2008-11-21T09:51:00.003-05:00

MommyK tagged me for this meme and I don't think I've ever done one. I'm home sick today so I have all the time in the world.

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To
1. Thanksgiving in PA
2. Christmas in MB (Myrtle Beach!!!) :)
3. My sausage and cheese on a salt bagel from Bethesda Bagel being brought to me by my boyfriend.
4. Getting over my cold that currently has me in bed.
5. A weekend of doing nothing.
6. Hanging out with my sister, Heather, for Thanksgiving.
7. SNOW!!!! SNOW!!! SNOW!!!
8. Watching Wall-E a million times.

8 Things on my Wish List
1. White Christmas on DVD
2. These slippers - I own the pair from last season and LOVED them. I want twelve pairs!
3. A gym membership
4. ikea furniture
5. NintendoDS (my sisters all have one and I want to join in the fun!)
6. Pictionary Man
7. A professional massage
8. A week with my family and nothing to do

8 TV Shows I Like To Watch
1. CSI (Las Vegas)
2. Project Runway
3. Law and Order: SVU
4. House
5. Top Chef
6. Dexter
7.
8.

8 Things that Happened Yesterday
1. I made mashed potatoes at midnight.
2. Woke up and went to work with the mashed potatoes.
3. Took care of the babies at work.
4. Got sent home for not feeling well.
5. Came home and made soup.
6. Ate soup and turned on Wall-E.
7. Fell asleep watching Wall-E which led to an AMAZING nap.
8. Woke up when Tom came home to take care of me!

8 People I am Tagging
1. Heather (not sure she'll actually do it)
2. Lauren (not sure she has TIME to do it)
3. I don't know anyone else ;)
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Blogging....

2008-11-13T20:33:00.003-05:00

...seems to be causing me anxiety. I feel like I'm so behind in blogging there is no catching up. I have been keeping up with everyone else's blog, but haven't really had the time to formulate a full thought and put my own blog together.

My family was here visiting awhile back and we had the opportunity to go to Mount Vernon. It was amazing. My mom, sisters, brother-in-laws, niece and nephews, Nana, Auntie Co, Uncle Craig and his four daughters were all here and it was so crazy...but so much fun!!! I took tons of pictures, but this one is of the view from the back patio area of the house. My sister, Kik, and her husband are the ones all the way to the right. It was a gorgeous day and I loved having all my family here to visit!

I've been babysitting every Sunday night for my sister, Lauren's, small group couples Bible study. It gives me time to hang out and play with my nephew and two other children. The couple of times it was really nice out (before it started getting dark crazy early!) we took the kids to the playground by the house. The kids loved using up a bunch of their energy!!! Kati and I had fun going down the slide too!

I've been dating a pretty great guy too! He happens to live in my house (there are six housemates total!). We were friends first and then started dating and its been amazing! We have so much fun hanging out with each other. We went to Pittsburgh (twice) and just had a blast. Here are a few of those pics...

Tom and I also spent this past Sunday just playing tourist downtown in DC. So here are a few of those pictures too. The set up for inauguration has already begun if you look closely at a few of the photos. The Botanic Gardens (which is one of my favorite places to go) had a really cool exhibit of miniatures of monuments around DC made out of natural plant materials.

I think that's enough for tonight. I'm tired and this weekend is going to be a busy one. Friday night picking up Tom's brother from the airport followed by dinner with his family. Then Saturday Tom and I scheduled a ballroom dance intro thing. Saturday afternoon I have to sleep because I volunteered to help out at the Gap overnight for their grand re-opening. And then Sunday I have church in the morning and then a pre - Thanksgiving Thanksgiving meal with all of Tom's friends and family! I feel tired just thinking about it. Sorry for being MIA for so long.

It's been awhile...

2008-10-02T21:53:00.002-04:00

...since I've blogged. I guess lately I feel like I don't really have anything to say. I've gotten over being sick (thankfully) and am trying to remember to keep taking vitamins. But other than that I've really got nothing to say. I suppose with the current election coming up I feel like I should be pulling up my soapbox and spreading my opinion to the masses. However, I feel like everyone else is doing that...so why should I add to the noise. The current financial situation has me worried, too. I've actually been following it pretty closely, but to be sure I can't stand talking about it for another minute.

So that leaves me with very little to say I guess. I've been working like crazy it seems lately. I actually do have something to report on this note. I've been filling in for another employee who left to go have knee surgery. In all honesty, I have been living in serious denial about her coming back to work. I kept thinking that if I did an AMAZING job she wouldn't come back. She wasn't that great of an employee to begin with from what I was told. I got the news the other day though that she would be back starting this next Wednesday. I have to give up my babies that I've been working with and train her on them. And I'm REALLY, REALLY, REALLY sad! I found out on Monday and since then I pretty much just want to cry everyday when I go in. I'll go back to being the Infant Float, which means I'll be in between two classrooms everyday. It just sucks! It totally, totally sucks!

Ok...I think that's it. Other than work drama things are good! I don't have much else to report!

Sick of being Sick

2008-09-23T05:53:00.002-04:00

So yesterday found me leaving work early and coming home to take a nap and then go to the doctor's office. The one thing about working in a preschool is that you inevitably catch whatever is going around. That is until your immune system gets used to it and starts working (which mine hasn't). I was fairly sure yesterday that I could have maybe, potentially, been coming down with strep throat. This was just another thing to add to the last few weeks of me having the weirdest illnesses and allergic reactions. Fortunately, it looks like I just have a nasty cold (thank the Lord for NyQuil) and will get better. The doctor gave me a prescription just in case I got worse, but I'm doing everything else she told me to do in the meantime.

5 a.m. is an early hour and I cannot wait for this week to be over so that I won't have to see it again. It will be nice to get to sleep in till seven (I'm not sure when I started to think that seven was SLEEPING IN). I'm currently sitting at my dining room table with my cat on the chair next to me eating granola, vanilla yogurt and fresh berries. It's delicious and part of a whole new scheme of mine to eat a healthier breakfast at home. I also picked up EmergenC (great stuff) and multivitamins. Hopefully I'll start balancing out again. The doctor also told me to get more sleep (hahaha). I'm tired of being sick and tired.

I'll be leaving the house in about 20 minutes to go catch the bus. Let's hope today goes a little better than yesterday.

3:12 a.m.

2008-09-16T03:12:00.005-04:00

That's what time it is right now. It's 3:12 in the morning. 3:12. I'm fascinated by that. I am supposed to be waking up at 5 a.m. which means that even if I fell asleep right now I would only manage to get about 2 hours of sleep. For those of you who don't know I work in a preschool. So not sleeping is NOT conducive to me having a good (or even functional) day tomorrow. These two pics are two of my primaries (which means I am directly responsible for knowing EVERYTHING about them). J is almost 5 months old and weighs 21 lbs. He is a BIG boy! He is always happy though and loves when we sing any song that has his name in it!

This is A. She is a sweetheart, but has lately become seriously attached to me. Does NOT want me to leave the room! But when I call her name loudly she smiles really big like this for me!!!

These are the twins (they are explained below) C and M. C is my primary (he's on the right). He is a little fussy, but mostly he is smiley and happy.

What's really bad is that I help with this set of twins in the morning. Two adorable boys who are totally sweet and loving in the mornings. I put my two weeks notice in last week with the family. 5 a.m. is not a time I am willing to witness anymore. I wish that 3:16 a.m. were not a time I was witnessing right now. This all reminds me of Mr. Zig's post the other day about waking in the middle of the night to take Tylenol.

So this is what I've been doing since I can't sleep. I folded laundry. It was all stuff I had dried on our indoor line and then popped in the dryer to soften it up really quickly. I watched a movie - The Jane Austen Book Club, which turned out to be a GREAT movie! About a group of women reading all of Jane Austen's books and what happens to them along the way. It is all the emotions and is a great chick flick. Now I'm laying in bed posting a blog because I can't seem to settle myself.

It's not for lack of trying either. I've turned out all the lights, the t.v., turned on quiet music, read a book, got a glass of water, etc. I just can't sleep. This is SO annoying. So sorry I am ranting. Sorry if there are run on sentences, but its late and I have no brain power left. Supposed to go out to a salsa lesson tonight with my roommate, but I'm not sure I'm going to be alive later tonight without getting some sleep.

Ok. My eyes finally feel heavy enough to fall asleep. This could be dangerous, but I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight!

Christmas

2008-09-09T17:18:00.002-04:00

So I have no idea what the family plans are for Christmas this year ... where anyone will be or what sisters will be around. But my sisters and I decided to start this thing last year where we buy "stocking stuffers" for each other. I decided to do it early this year so that we can get a potential head start on it.

So the breakdown goes like this:

Kiki buys for Heather
Heather buys for April
April buys for Lauren
Lauren buys for Kiki

If there are sisters that aren't going to be with the family then I guess we can ship them (or since I just talked to Heather and it sounds like plans are in MB and Lauren is the only one not scheduled to be there I can ferry things down) or something! But either way I thought it would be fun if we did it again. So have fun with it!

The snake...

2008-09-09T13:30:00.004-04:00

is gone...we think. We couldn't find it at least and everything is cleaned up now so it has no where to hide. Our landlords came over and helped us clean as well and they couldn't find it either. So we're assuming its gone and hoping we're right.

My Day (previously called This Morning)

2008-09-03T06:34:00.004-04:00

First, another bite update...I will live to see another day and did not have to go to the E.R. Thank the Lord!!! My arm is healing and looks much better. No scary red line running up it anymore.

I don't really have time to write out this whole story so I'll be editing this blog later today, but no joke there was a yellowjacket infestation in my bathroom this morning. And for those of you who don't know...I stepped on a whole hive of those when I was about 8 years old and have been terrified of them ever since. Anyways, I'll complete the horrifying details later....let's just say I am WIDE awake now!

(THE EVENING ADD ON FOLLOWS!)

So I am now home and after the first portion of this blog this morning I ran back into the bathroom and took a picture of the yellowjackets through the window. They wanted back in really badly and wouldn't leave the window.

Now if that wasn't bad enough shortly after I got to work one of my roommates, Jess, called me to tell me that our other roommate, Tom, had seen a snake in the basement....a BABY snake!!!! Hello!!?!?!? WHAT!?!?!? A BABY SNAKE!?!?! Let me point out the obvious and that would be that where there is a BABY snake there is most likely a MOMMY snake!?!?!? OH MY LORD AND TAYLOR!!!!

And when I came home I found this on our "message board."

I will officially be sleeping with a towel blocking my doorway to make sure nothing creeps under it. Geez!!! We have to call pest control to come out and find it, but we can't do that until we clean up the room that the snake might have gone into because it is a wreck and we would surely get in trouble for all the crap that is stacked close (not too too close, but closer than it should be) to the furnace. A SNAKE!?!!? I just can't get over it!

Bite Update

2008-08-31T20:35:00.002-04:00

My bite seems to be getting A LOT better. The line that was once running up my arm is mostly gone and only an outline of that horrid red circle is left right now. I'm still taking my antibiotics and I'm still watching it just to make sure it doesn't sneak back up on me. I'm also going to have to go back in to the doctor's office this next week so that they can completely clear me. I have stopped almost bursting into tears about it though (I was that scared about having to go to the E.R.) Woo Hoo....blood poisoning is a BLAST!

The Bite (Revisited)

2008-08-29T23:26:00.002-04:00

So I went back to the doctor today because my bite had, in fact, gotten worse. It went outside the boundary that the doctor drew on my arm. She was worried...which I can honestly say was definitely NOT the reaction I was looking for. She said "You're right on the cusp of me being very worried." In other words, you're right on the edge of me wanting to send you to the emergency room. And that in fact is the truth. She prescribed me a new antibiotic and told me to take it tonight and then to see what happens.

However, there was a huge BUT in this whole thing. And that was that if the rash got any larger or went further up my arm then I was to IMMEDIATELY go to the E.R. Oh JOY! I have NEVER been in the hospital unless I was visiting someone else. And with that said I don't have the best of luck visiting people in the hospital unless they are having a baby!

All that to say....I'm scared. I don't want to go to the hospital. I don't want I.V. antibiotics (which is what they are going to give me if I go there...that's what my M.D. told me). I want this stupid thing to go away on its own.

I'm praying its almost gone by morning....

Me and the Bite

2008-08-28T00:00:00.004-04:00

I am the queen of weird diseases, rashes, and random accidents. A Portuguese-man-of-war sting on my leg at 5, stepping on a cactus on Long Island in my teens, the Christmas tree rash , and several other things.

Now to add to those I have a bug bite that tried to give me blood poisoning. I didn't feel like trying to describe it so I took a picture! The black outline is my "boundary" so I know whether it is growing or shrinking. The doctor drew it on me so excuse what ever it looks like. I'm on an antibiotic and will not lose my arm thankfully!!!

A Day of Monuments (and amazing lighting!)

2008-08-24T18:46:00.003-04:00

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial with the Capitol and the top of the National Gallery in the distance. It was such a beautiful day! I know the other two buildings are hard to see.

The Washington Monument! I have about a million of these, but it was just so gorgeous looking with the light and the clouds!

The Lincoln Memorial...another one I haven't been to in FOREVER!!!

Below is the Korean War Memorial. It was gorgeous too!

Below is a view of the Lincoln Memorial from the WWII Memorial.

3) Mie N' Yu (pronounced Me N' You)

2008-08-24T14:21:00.004-04:00

Restaurant week in DC is always a great time to try more expensive restaurants for less money. They usually give you a restricted menu, but it's usually more of their most popular dishes. We had a really good time at a really AMAZING restaurant....with pretty amazing people! Sorry this first one is so blurry, but the restaurant was super dark. We were actually sitting in a small circular table with a type of gauzy canopy over us. It was beautiful.

(above) Jess and Daniel at the restaurant
(below L to R) Daniel, Jess, Tom, Sarah, Amanda and I

(above) Jess eating some really yummy raw seasoned soybeans
(below) There was a cage that actually had a table in it...it wasn't swaying or anything but it was cool

(above) They were trying to take our picture and I have no idea why I'm laughing like that
(below) Daniel and Tom taking their "couple" picture

(above) all the girls!!!
(below) Guitar Hero ended the night

2) Montgomery County Fair

2008-08-24T14:08:00.004-04:00

This blog could also be named "Corn Dogs, Fried Oreos, and Funnel Cakes, Oh My!!" We had a BLAST!!!! A demolition derby that was absolutely fabulous, tons of fried food, and rides that were amazing. Enjoy!!!

(above) Jess and Daniel at the derby
(below) Tom and Sarah at the derby (Sarah is a gf, not a roommate)

(above) Amanda and I at the derby
(the rest below this) All the derby

And in case you don't know what a Demolition Derby is...here's a video of the one we went to.

1) Hiking

2008-08-18T20:30:00.004-04:00

So we went hiking in the Shenandoah National Park on a gorgeous day. It was overcast and supposed to pour, but the rain stopped by the time we got to where we were going to hike. We actually ended up hiking practically all the way down the mountain and then walked most of the way back up. So here are the pictures from my 7.2 mile hike....

(above) A bug that I noticed on a leaf...I have NO idea what it is.
(below) We tracked this really cool deer through the woods a little bit. It did not seem that scared of us and was pretty willing to put up with pictures.

(above) Another deer...we saw quite a few.
(below) The road on our way back up...

(above) A gorgeous view from the side of the road.
(below) A Thomas Kinkade moment...

(above) Another deer that posed for this picture.
(below) View from the lookout...this is as far as we made it back up the mountain.

(above) Juman at the lookout.
(below) Sarah with her broken sunglasses on.

Blogs to come....

2008-08-17T19:57:00.002-04:00

1) hiking (well, more like, getting lost) in the Shenandoah National Park.
2) the Montgomery County Fair with the roomies (which included a demolition derby - a totally
redneck event)
3) Restaurant Week dinner out with the roomies at a super cool restaurant in Georgetown.

Be forewarned - some of my pictures are blurry, but I'll post them anyway. They are good enough to enjoy I think! Anyways....that's what is coming up!

Hopefully, I get that done sooner rather than later.

The Real Commercial

2008-08-14T22:08:00.001-04:00

Overwhelmed

2008-08-12T21:32:00.002-04:00

...so I might as well enjoy an extremely funny moment from my nephew, Chantz!

Trip to PA (Tuesday)

2008-08-09T16:45:00.005-04:00

Tuesday was my last day with Heather and her family, but my train didn't leave until 8 p.m. so we decided to go to a huge flea market. We got up and went to pick up bagels and coffee first. We ended up having a Gift of the Magi day. I had pointed out a necklace that I had really liked. It was a silver cross, but it was twisted in a really pretty way. Anyway, it ended up that I bought Chantz an old civil war bullet and Heather a spoon for her collection. Heather bought a headband for Olivia and the necklace for me. Overall, we had a really great time...even though it was four thousand degrees! That's right....four thousand!

After the flea market we basically just drove around for a little while. These are the pictures from the rest of the afternoon!

(above) Heather showed me this really cool house. It's not the greatest photo, but the front of the house looked like an old ruin. It was just a wall with all sorts of plants growing in the space left behind. But whoever bought the place had built a real house around that. It was awesome!!
(below) The next like six pictures are of this train in (I think) Newtown...it was so cute and the train came around the corner just as I got out of the car!!

(above) We managed to get in a few hours at the neighbors pool again. Chantz and I learned to dive together (and I'm being honest....I did not know how to dive) and had a lot of fun just swimming around and playing.
(below) Flowers from the neighbors garden surrounding the pool.

(above) Chantz with hair straight from the pool that looked like something out of Dumb & Dumber.
(below) A hummingbird moth on one of the flowers. Again not the greatest photo, but I liked it anyway!

Trip to PA (Monday)

2008-08-09T16:26:00.005-04:00

So Monday we went back to Tyler State Park and made the quick decision to go canoeing with the kids. Chantz had gone with his dad the day before, but we just let them ride and enjoy the trip today. Heather and I paddled and I learned how scared my sister is of a slightly rocking, sitting close the water, boat. I must admit that occasionally I would rock the boat just slightly cause I think it's fun. Heather was never very happy with that. All the following are from Monday....

(above) Heather, Chantz, and Olivia in the boat. That worried look on Heather's face? I'm sure it was there the whole time we were on the water.
(below) We think these were snapping turtles based on their flat shells and the funny snouts.

(above) We stopped and got out of the boat on this little rocky section where I snapped this picture of the dragonfly. My camera was having trouble focusing on the bug, but I still liked the picture.
(below) The view down the creek from the little rock section

(above) Heather and I taking advantage of our long arms to take a picture of ourselves.
(below) Chantz and Olivia walking around in the water.

(above) Another frog we found.

(above) Can't really read the sign....until....
(below) you get closer to it!!!!! Yikes!!!

(above) Chantz and Livi in the water.
(below) Chantz getting a haircut.

(above) Chantz and Livi in the neighbors pool. We had so much fun!!!
(below) Deer that had just run across the road in front of us. There were little babies too!!!

(below) Olivia watching a movie in the car while waiting for dad to get done with a Cub Scouts meeting. We were picking him up after going to get ice cream!

Trip to PA - Sunday

2008-08-09T16:13:00.002-04:00

When I had gotten up on Saturday morning and gone out on Heather's front porch her morning glories were all open. They were beautiful! But because of the horrible, evil killer bee thing I wasn't about to try and take a picture. However, Sunday morning I managed to get out there before the bee took up it's post and snapped this picture! So these few pictures and the video are from Sunday!

Chantz and I decided to take a walk down to the creek near their house. There was a deer hide in the little woods there and Chantz was totally excited to show it to me. We hooked a rope up so that he could climb down it and with his smiling face looking back up at me I remembered why I love that sweet, smart boy.

(above) This is actually the view from up on the deer hide. I climbed up there much to my displeasure at Chantz's begging. There were rusty nails poking out from every piece of wood and I wasn't sure it was going to hold my weight. What your looking at is actually the tops of tiny trees and the larger trees coming up out of them. It looks like tall plants, but we are actually about four feet off the ground.

(below) Chantz running back along the trail.

The video below is of the rainstorm from Sunday night. The last time I came to visit there was a really bad rainstorm too and Heather and I were convinced that a tornado would be sweeping down the block at any moment. This time was no different (although the river wasn't threatening to come to the front door and say hello!). We even made up a new song to go with it....maybe I'll save that for a video blog!

Trip to PA (Saturday)

2008-08-06T20:20:00.009-04:00

I went to visit my sister, Heather, in PA a week or so ago. I have been waiting to post these pictures wanting to do them justice instead of just posting them willy-nilly. I had so much fun with Heather and took (to be exact) 206 pictures while there. I was there from a VERY late night Friday until Tuesday night. Amtrak is totally unreliable, but makes for a fun trip nonetheless. These pictures are just from Saturday with their details included with the pictures...

(above) Heather's version of Mothra, which her husband informed her had been hanging out there for "awhile"
(below) Olivia, my niece, after having Auntie April do her hair...not entirely sure what she was doing here, but it made for a great picture of her

(above) A bee/hornet/wasp/evil-wants-to-kill-you bug that is officially called a Cicada Killer. This one was haunting the front of Heather's house trying to hurt anyone who came near it...including us!!
(below) Tyler State Park...just a random shot of the river/creek/whatever

(above) "Mommy, these are for Auntie April," Olivia says as she hands my sister the flowers. I asked her to hold them for me.
(below) Chantz with a teeny tiny frog in his hands with mine around them. Chantz is actually scared of frogs, but he held this one VERY bravely!

(above) Heather and Jerry took me (and the kids) to a dive of a restaurant called Dilly's. I have to say that although eating the food every night could probably kill you it was DELICIOUS!!!
(below) Dilly's gives you a playing card instead of asking your name. They call out the card when your order is up. It was so much fun!!!

(above) Chantz rocking out in the car. I can't remember what song it was, but we were all singing at the top of our lungs!
(below) I can't remember exactly what town this house was in (Newtown maybe?) but I loved the bright green of the ivy on the blue house.

(above) Chantz with his hair parted by the wind. It looked like when he was really little.
(below) Olivia all up in my face!

(above) Heather and I kept calling pictures like this "Thomas Kinkade moments" because of the cheese factor, but in truth it was so gorgeous that night.
(below) This picture was not of Heather, but of Chantz in the mirror out her window. My camera didn't really want to focus on him, but if you look you'll see him.

(Chantz and Liv at Tyler State Park (a different section) later in the evening. We saw a sign on the side of the road for a covered bridge and decided to stop and take a walk. I didn't realize I had gotten Heather and Jerry in the background.
(below) The covered bridge with Olivia and Chantz in the center.

(above) Olivia with a teeny tiny frog and my hand around hers. I know, I know...you just saw me do this with Chantz. She was not scared at all.
(below) Heather and Jerry... I don't know whether or not they knew I had taken this photo.

(above) Another Thomas Kinkade moment by the covered bridge.
(below) We were sitting in the car waiting for Jerry outside of a store and Livi and Chantz were watching these teenagers. The conversation went like this....
Olivia: Why are we hiding?
Chantz: ...because...they're teenagers.
(two seconds later)
Olivia: Look, teenagers over there!
Chantz: They're like wild beasts!!!

Our day ended with this image which doesn't show up that great here, but it was pretty freaky. We were all watching a movie with the kids and Heather realized that she had heard a helicopter that did not continue to move away. She went outside to check out what was happening and there was a helicopter hovering almost right over the house. The helicopter floated around the block for about 15 minutes before it left. It turned out that there was a hit-and-run and they were chasing the runner.

I love....

2008-07-16T21:04:00.004-04:00

life right now!!!! I am dating a great guy who loves me just the way I am! I have a job that I look forward to going to everyday! I have a family that loves and cares about me! Things are just great! And have I mentioned how much I love my blog and everyone that comes to visit me?

I visited MommyK's page today and I have to say that I definitely love it!!! I just recently added her after my sister, Kik, went to visit her in real life. I love Kenady and Logzi and their fabulous blogs. I think what I like most of all about these blogs is that it is real life. I hope I get more time to surf around and read a lot more blogs!

Myrtle Beach

2008-07-13T00:47:00.008-04:00

I got to spend a hot second in Myrtle Beach over July 4th and it was great to see all my family. Lauren and her family were basically the only ones that knew I was going to go down there. We kept it a secret and the family totally freaked when I burst in the door. Once again I have four million pictures and these are only a small sampling. Hope you enjoy!!!

The following are from the ride home....

Room Remodel

2008-07-13T00:38:00.005-04:00

The room is finally painted except for the ceiling being finished! I love my new room!!!! I'll have to add a couple more photos to this since I've now bought curtains and other fun stuff for my room!

(above) before
(below) after

(above) primer
(below) my new bedside set up

(above and below) new tv set-up

Father's Day and Birthdays

2008-07-13T00:22:00.004-04:00

So there are four million pictures here, but I couldn't leave any of these out. These photos are all from the week of June 16th. It was a week of Father's Day, a Duck Tour, Caedmon's birthday, my birthday, and my mom and Heather visiting. Total craziness!!! But I ended up with some good photos and some great memories. Hope you like them!

(above) Caed and his daddy
(below) Caed's friend, Alliyah

(above) Caed and his really cool milk cup
(below) a pic of Caed that Livi took

(above) Caed enjoying his drink on the Duck Tour boat
(below) Auntie and Livi being silly together

(above) Heather with the annoying duck whistle
(below) Livi declared, "Auntie April take a picture of my nails!"

(above) coming up out of the water
(below) towards the end of the ride

(above) the Capitol building
(below) Lauren, Heather, and I

(above) a rainbow by Lauren and Jon's
(below) Nana reads to Caed

Me blowing out my candles

New Shoes!

2008-07-11T00:14:00.003-04:00

Yes I am aware that I have forty million photos to post, but until I get finished resizing and prepping myself for the blogs here's what I just purchased from Target.com!

Total Craziness

2008-07-05T22:50:00.003-04:00

So I'm currently posting from SC where I am with my family. I have a BAGILLION pictures to post, but not tonight. So here are some of them. A few are from being in DC and a few are from here. More to come...

Coming Soon!

2008-07-02T19:15:00.002-04:00

Okay, I've been painting for the past three days so I've been a little crazy! But this, of course, means that I have some great pictures! I have never painted a room (or done any sort of house redecorating) so I've learned a lot and had fun! Thanks definitely to my brother-in-law, Ken, who told me I would need primer!!!! I could have used his painting skills as mine are not the best. So...check back soon for pictures on this post! It should be fun!

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

2008-06-22T16:33:00.004-04:00

It's got a long name but the Shrine lives up to it! I have tons more than these pictures, but clearly I can't post all of them here! So I hope you enjoy just this brief snapshot! I went with H on the May 8th so I think this should be the first one. I'm hoping these blogs will mostly be in date order!

M.I.A

2008-06-14T10:16:00.002-04:00

So I realized that I haven't been updating my blog as often as I should, but I promise a MEGA blogging is coming up. I have four thousand pictures and things to tell, but no time to sit and write it all. My mom is coming into town today! And this coming Wednesday is my birthday! WOOOOO HOOOO!!!! So I promise to blog soon, but not today!

Bitten

2008-06-03T01:57:00.003-04:00

It's two o'clock in the morning and I'm still awake. Which is horrible because I have to be up early for work and I have to have energy tomorrow. But it is what it is (a phrase I hate by the way) and I happen to have found that Inside the Actors Studio on. And it just so happened that Sarah Jessica Parker was on. Seeing as her new movie is coming out and all....

...but that got me thinking. I remembered that she had her own line and that it was through this company called Steve & Barry called Bitten. Now normally my sister, Kiki, is the one that comments about fashion, but I'm doing it this time.

I LOVE HER LINE!!! And Steve & Barry's ideology is based on fashion being accessible and affordable for women. Her stuff is adorable!!! So I thought I'd share that. I'm going to try and sleep now.

Goodnight!

Four new posts...

2008-05-26T23:42:00.001-04:00

so make sure you scroll down far enough!

Memorial Day

2008-05-26T23:35:00.002-04:00

So today was Memorial Day and Lauren, Jon, Caed and I all attempted to go to Arlington Cemetery this morning to visit my dad's grave. Or as Caed calls it "Pop pop's spot". As we were waiting in a line of cars a helicopter suddenly starting flying low overhead and the proceeded to circle over the entrance to Arlington. It was amazing to see one flying so low. I took video!!!

I also took photos from today too....

It Lives!!!

2008-05-26T23:32:00.003-04:00

I didn't kill the orchid plant!!! I am SO happy! In fact, the two blooms that were still closed when I brought it home have now blossomed!!! GO ME!!! Thanks has to go to my sister, Lauren, who told me to just spray the leaves down instead of actually watering the plant. That's probably saved the plant!

Janssons Come to DC

2008-05-26T22:51:00.003-04:00

First, let me say that I only think I spelled their last name right. It's been forever. But Pete, my youth pastor from NY, and his family came to visit. It was soooo much fun to get to see them!

Above: (from left)Seth Jr., Seth, Janette (spelling?), Cheryl, and Pete

Above: same people only Lauren and Jon

Me and Janette

St. Matthews

2008-05-26T22:39:00.004-04:00

The other night Henry and I went to see the new Indiana Jones and it was amazing!!! We had time to kill before we went to see the movie though and Henry had suggested we checked out St. Matthews. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!! I took more pictures than this, but it turned out that the church was closing early and in my rush to take pictures a lot of them came out blurry. These were the best ones that I got so hopefully they do the place some small amount of justice.

Lots...

2008-05-26T09:20:00.001-04:00

...to blog. But I have no time. There are pictures and comments, but I just can't seem to focus long enough to do it. Sorry....I promise I will eventually get to it.

Must blog....

2008-05-17T22:11:00.001-04:00

....this evening!!! I just had the greatest night!!! And that's all I'll say because I don't want to spoil it for myself by blabbing everywhere!!!

Tuesday Night

2008-05-14T21:32:00.005-04:00

So this past Tuesday I went out to dinner with a friend and then we went up to the National Cathedral. I had never been, but we showed up just as the sun was setting and it was gorgeous! The very first pic is from the restaurant we were at...all the others are from around the Cathedral. Of course, I had to take a flower picture (it's from the gardens)! Sorry about there being so many pictures, but I couldn't decided which ones to include and which ones not too. Also sorry that some of them are blurry. I was trying to take them kind of quickly and my hand wasn't steady for the length of the exposure....

Anyways...hope you enjoy!!!

New posts...

2008-05-11T22:57:00.001-04:00

Just to make sure...tonight I posted like three new blogs so make sure you don't miss them. Sorry I do this so often instead of just posting one blog at a time, but for me this is easier. I don't have that much time to sit down in front of the computer and come out with thoughts for blogs. They tend to hit me just how I post them...all of a sudden and all at once. Hope you are enjoying them!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

2008-05-11T22:08:00.003-04:00

For all my mother's out there!!! My mom specifically of course though! ;)

Lauren and Jon invited me to go to dinner with them too. Caed was with us of course. We had a really great meal and a great time too! Here are just a few pics!

Cali's Bridal Shower

2008-05-11T21:27:00.004-04:00

My friends, Cali and Sam are getting married in Hawaii this summer. Cali's bridal shower was this past weekend, so I decided to head down and attend. My friend, Amanda, went with me and we had a blast. Sam was actually there too for part of the party. It was so much fun to see them!

Amanda and Sam

Me and Sam (we were actually fighting)

Amanda, Cali, and I

Cali wrapped in her toilet paper dress

All of us girls!

Cali and Sam practicing (they mushed it in each other's faces because apparently they aren't allowed to at their wedding)

Sam with frosting on his face

Teacher Appreciation Week!

2008-05-11T21:10:00.005-04:00

So I've only been at my new job for two weeks, but this past week was Teacher Appreciation Week. And I've never felt so appreciated at a job! The parents at our school are amazing and so nice. And the director (who happens to be a friend now) and the other administrators are really amazing too. The parents brought in breakfast for us one morning and flowers on another. The school provided an ice cream social and lunch on a couple of days. Here are just a few pictures of the flowers I got.

And for my dad...

2008-05-08T20:49:00.002-04:00

It was his birthday today. I miss him. Sometimes the strangest memories of him pop into my mind and I find myself smiling about something stupid.

One of my favorite memories was him taking me bowling when I was older. It was a random treat and it hurt his back to go, but he didn't complain the whole time. We laughed and had a great time together.

The other was the last time I went to lunch with my dad. We went to T.G.I.Fridays. I remember everything about it. He invited me out - it was after his surgery. I picked him up in my car and we just had the best time talking.

Happy Birthday Daddy! I miss you!

For Caedmon

2008-05-08T20:16:00.002-04:00

Botanical Gardens

2008-05-08T19:55:00.006-04:00

My last post was from the National Gallery of Art. The sculptures are by an artist named Giacometti. He is a really amazing artist! I took the photos mostly because I didn't even know that the National Gallery owned Giacometti pieces.

This post is mostly from the botanical gardens. The pictures say it all...

Giacometti

2008-05-08T19:20:00.004-04:00

Emotional Night

2008-05-06T21:32:00.003-04:00

In complete honesty I went out with my ex tonight. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want anyone to make a big deal out of it (especially with the fam--no offense). We got together because it had been almost a year and a half since we had last seen each other and decided we needed to catch up. We got together at a restaurant we had frequented while dating bringing back a lot of memories for me. Some bad, some good, and some awkward. The conversation felt pressed at first, but we finally started talking and caught up immediately. Dinner was great and we had a good conversation. I felt some final closure happening.

But when I got home it was different. I was filled with this incredible sense of sadness. I started to cry and felt really stupid. I recently started spending time with someone that is TOTALLY worth spending time with. I mainly felt stupid because I was sad about someone who was not nearly as amazing as this new person is. So I called my sister Heather and she cheered me up pretty well.

But in the middle of my conversation my really good guy friend called me. He never calls me because he is a typical guy. In fact, when I asked why he was calling he reminded me that he said he would. I didn't remember that at all which could be because I didn't really think he'd remember to call. Anyways, he said he was going to make an effort to see me tomorrow which is amazing!!!! I love hanging out with him. We always have a blast!

So now I am cheered up and feeling better. My head is in the right place now. And smiling ear to ear!!! :)

Oh, by the way, my other ex from South Carolina, instant messaged me also tonight. That was fine though and didn't really affect me at all. Just thought I'd add it in there.

I feel weird putting all that out there, but in complete honesty I figured I would because of one of my previous posts about being lonely. I really don't feel so lonely anymore.

Curly Hair!

2008-04-28T17:45:00.001-04:00

This one's for my mom!

The Racoon

2008-04-26T23:45:00.005-04:00

So you never really see a raccoon in daylight, but I did the other day. I have been walking home from the metro lately since the weather is so nice and I'm off of work so early. I pass by a small wooded area on my way home and just happen to look up the other day. At first I thought I was looking at an owl, but when I stopped to take out my camera the animal turned around....and it was a raccoon. So, of course, I took quite a few pictures.

A really quick note here: My family all pitched in to buy me the camera that I take all my photos with. And if I don't say it enough....I love my camera. I love that I can take pictures of all the stuff I see. I no longer have to say "I wish I had a camera to catch that!"

The white circle is where the raccoon was....he was really hard to see.

I love...

2008-04-24T22:37:00.001-04:00

MY NEW JOB!!!!

And I can't stop saying it!

Flowers!

2008-04-20T15:17:00.004-04:00

The vase was my grandma Mary's. It's one of the few things that I have of hers. I loved how funky it was! The flowers are from a friend - they're my favorites!! Daisies! Pink Daisies!!!! We are having horrible weather today and they are a happy addition to my room!

Dumpling Making Party!

2008-04-20T12:41:00.002-04:00

My friend, Henry, and I have mutual friends, Sarah and Juman. Henry invited me to go over to their house for a Dumpling Making Party! It was a blast. We ended up making somewhere close to 200 dumplings that were all over the place. It was a night of great fun and great friends! I only took a few pictures as my hands were covered in dumpling ingredients, but here they are....

Above: Juman and Henry posing with some of the ingredients before we officially started.
Below: Henry getting ready to chop up onions.

Above: Juman feeding Henry a piece of asian pear. We had our hands covered in the dumpling filling so Juman fed all of us.
Below: Some of our first dumplings - all different shapes and sizes.

Below: Sarah taking a photo of the dumplings while Henry and Juman stay hard at work.

My Day

2008-04-16T23:38:00.009-04:00

I am addicted to great architecture. Not just any architecture - it has to be something different. Living in DC I get to see great buildings all the time. Churches, office buildings, museums ... you name it - we've got it!

I went downtown today with my roommate, Jessica. She had an interview and asked if I would ride down with her. I try not to miss an opportunity to come downtown so I said ok. The office she was going to was a few blocks from Gallery Place. As we walked Jess and I were discussing the area and how it would be nice to work down there.

We found the building she would need and since we were early we decided to walk around. Of course, we took notice of all the various food locations, but I started to notice the buildings (as always). The office building she would be going to has a walkway (or maybe its called an airwalk)
connecting it to the neighboring building. It stretches over this pretty courtyard (where a Starbucks is conveniently located).

(OK - total sidebar here but I am actually writing this blog sitting out in front of the DC Public Library. As I'm sitting here writing a protest came marching down the street, right up the steps of the library and directly into the library. The whole time they were chanting, "What do we want? Statehood! When do we want it? Now!" The group was only about 30 people, but there are a bunch of photographers following them. I took a picture of them from far away, but here they are --)

OK--- back to my architecture....

The courtyard happens to be down a street called Techworld Place. Odd I know but on one end of the street in the Public Library (which isn't really a library as you will see) and on the other is the Portrait Gallery. There were three churches that I took photos of as well. Two of them - a Baptist Church and a Catholic Church - had huge rough rocks that were amazing. Another one was a red brick church, but I never looked at a sign to see what kind it was. The red church had a really cool steeple that had an intricate cut-out design on it.

Jess and I pointed out a few of the buildings, circled the block, and then she went up to her interview. I told her I would stay in the area since I wanted to take photos of some of the buildings that we had seen. I walked around the corner and almost immediately started taking pictures. I love coming downtown and going somewhere I've never gone. I took pictures of the Baptist church and the red church first because they were right there. I took pictures looking up and down the street. Then I just started to wander. I walked down a block that I thought wasn't going to lead anywhere. Just when I was beginning to wonder where I should go next I came around some shrubs and saw a pedestrian walkway. It had several awnings at intervals along the path and this cement pathway with blue sparkling pieces of stone in them. Surrounding that was a whole "lawn" of astro-turf. Of course, once I see that I had to walk through it.

At the end of the walkway I crossed the street and kept going for a block. That's when I saw the Catholic church. As I came to the corner to cross to go look at the church a woman was playing what looked like a miniature harp. She picked it up and started walking with it as soon as the light changed. I finally got a picture of her when she stopped just down the block. (Sorry its so fuzzy... I was across the street at this point.)

After I started walking again there was a really cool doorway with detailing around it. It had these modern glass and metal doors on it, but the work around it looked like something off of a church. It turned out to be some sort of dance - art gallery - thing.

Sometime around that is when the idea for this blog started. All I kept thinking was "I am obsessed with architecture!" I think that it's the mix of the old and new...where the city built up around pre-existing buildings.

I love how a building reflects the blue of a sky. And how there is a mix of old and new not only on a block, but in one building. It's a gorgeous day and I am sitting tucked into a corner of a bench with my feet stretched out, my flip-flops off, and the breeze keeping me cool while my feet tan.

I've come to appreciate moments like this. Even if I don't have the beach...

Here are some of the pictures that I took that I didn't feel like plugging into the actual body of the blog...