[recently]

I know...I have not posted in a while. Unfortunately we are at that part of the year where NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS. Joking...but it feels that way sometimes. So here are some mini updates on life, nothing too exciting:


*We gave Raja to my parents:( The first few days were really hard because she has been sleeping on my bed every night for the past few months. Luckily, they are only 30 minutes away so I've seen her a couple times. This past week she had to get a shot and her nails trimmed so she came to stay with us so I could take her to the vet. Precious.

*R has been living at home this semester so we have had a lot of time to bond. #superbesties

*Had a couple weeks the past month where I was almost literally counting down the hours to the weekend. Just a LOT of real difficult days at work. So to answer Dowager Countess, a weekend is THE MOST WONDERFUL THING IN THE WORLD.

*Celebrated Valentines Day a little late by crashing C2s Ward Party with Britt. We all missed the dressed-up memo...Oops.

*We were supposed to get a snowstorm last Wednesday with maybe 6 inches accumlation. Woke up to no snow, so off to work I went. I was so upset...I had been really looking forward to a snow day. Then the snow was coming down pretty hard even though it wasn't sticking, so John let me leave at 11 :) YES. Came home and ate a quesadilla and watched Pat Collins in his trademark wet weather gear on NBC4. #PatInTheHat

*Used my tax refund to get an iPad Mini :) i LOVE it.

*Went out to Georgetown with R and G, kind of a pre-celebration for G's birthday. LRG love.

*Missing this guy.

*Loving this guy.

*Waiting as patiently as possible for "Scandal" to return on 3/21. In the meantime, I have been enjoying numerous Fitz/Tony Goldwyn. I mean seriously...NOT. REAL. #TeamFitz #MrPresident

*Had a lot of days recently where the only communication needed was an iMessage full of gun emojis. It happens.

*19 DAYS UNTIL OPENING DAY. I ALMOST MADE IT THROUGH ANOTHER WINTER.

*If you only knew how funny this actually was, you would appreciate it even more.

*Hopeful words on love <3

*And last but not least, some inspiring words that i LOVE. Lets think the best of everyone.

[recently]

*It has been absolutely freezing. If you know anything about me you know I hate being cold and I hate everything about winter. I've even gone as far as suggesting it is some kind of conspiracy. To survive I have been holing up in my bed, in a similar style to this dog:

while also dreaming of Hawaii because yes, it IS HAPPENING in June.

*My dear friend Kash got married a few weeks ago to Cristian Arteaga. It was a beautiful, intimate little ceremony with family and close friends. I was so happy to be able to share in their joy.

*I became ADDICTED to this show. Sooooooo goodddd. Its been a long time since a TV drama has been able to stay interesting week after week but this show does. You NEVER know what will happen...every character is so complex that one episode you like them and the next episode you kind of dislike them. Yes, I do know the American president is a philanderer and so I should automatically say ew gross, but...its FITZ. Come on. Freaking love him.

*Last week we went to the J. Crew Warehouse sale in Lynchburg. I spent more money than I should have, however there are ridiculous deals there, so it was worth it. 2 swimsuits for $10? 3 pairs of shorts for $24? cashmere sweater for $25? Yes. It is true.

*And last but not least, our ward boundaries changed. We knew for a week something would happen and there were theories upon theories, but this was the final result. Things will be a lot different because the boundaries completely changed for our wards and a new ward formed for Annandale/Centerville/WB-but I think it will be fine. A lot of my friends made the switch too, so it should be okay.

Have a historical day!

Inauguration.

My friends and I were debating all weekend about going to inauguration...I was really needing a day off to clean and do my laundry, and generally regroup after being in Nashville for two weeks. Plus, we weren't that excited about the whole thing since we didn't vote Obama/Biden. But Sunday night we decided that we had standing tickets, so we should probably go for the experience. My parents and I had gone downtown in 2001 for 43's first inaug, and all i remember is that it was absolutely FREEZING and i saw a huge group of people dressed up in polar bear costumes banging drums yelling about the environment. So off we went.

Up at 5:30, taking the metro.

We had to go to Britt's office to pick up our tickets and while we were there, got a picture of our pro- Mitt shirts :) No worries everyone, we kept our jackets on outside so no verbal assaults.

Waiting in line...so much fun.

Even more fun when we got through the first security gate and then came to a dead stop because they had temporarily closed off a throughway due to a crazy man in a tree yelling about abortion. Lets just say we got REALLY close to a LOT of people for half an hour...Here is the man in the tree, and here we are very close together trying to take a picture.

It was an interesting day. We were a little sad being there, but there were some pros...it was not as cold as it could have been, and it was pretty cool being there to witness history. I love America, I love DC, and I love presidential history. A day to remember.

#travel2013: Nashville.

[[Background: the family that I nanny for used to live in Nashville. After they moved to Virginia, Julie continued working for the same company, so she has to travel back to Nashville every so often for work. Usually she takes Jack with her and I have a few days off, but this month she had to go for two full weeks so she brought me with them.]]

I was really excited to go to Nashville because I have never been there before. And I was REALLY looking forward to being home in the South because I have been missing it a LOT lately.

We were staying with Julie's friend/boss who lives in the most BEAUTIFUL home. Seriously...it was GORGEOUS. I was staying in their pool house so I had my own kitchen, bathroom, tv, etc. It was a pretty nice set up. They were so kind to let us stay with them!

And they have a black cat! In love.

Thankfully, they had a huge playroom so Jack had a lot of space to spread out and play. We also rented a car, so we got to get out and go for some drives. He LOVES being out and looking at everything and he was taking fabulously long naps the whole trip, so it was good for me. One day Julie's mom took us to Hermitage, the home of 7th President Andrew Jackson. It's a beautiful place, even in the winter.

And this past Wednesday was Jack's first birthday! So we had a little cake for him and some balloons and a TON of food. He got a little scared when we all screamed after he reached for the candle, but once we put cake in his month he was fine. I can't believe he is ONE!

I had a wonderful time in Nashville. I can't wait to go back some day :)

#travel2013: NYC and Philly.

One of my goals/resolutions/whatever for 2013 is to travel. Since my fam has always been spread out across the country, I am used to traveling but it is always to the same places. Don't get me wrong, I love going to Mesa and Orange County and South Carolina and Virginia Beach, but its always fun to explore new places and I think 2013 is the year for me to do that before who-knows-what happens and then I never have the chance to travel again.

So I have started off 2013 with lots of travels! I have been to New York dozens of times and Philadelphia a couple times also, so they don't really count as "new places", but they were fun trips so I should count them.

New York: I love New York. I love visiting because I can go somewhere new every time I go. This trip was important because it was the first SISTERS ONLY trip our family has had-and it was Rebecca's first time going and Jessica's second time going. We had a blast. We were only there for 24 hours but we had a really nice hotel, ate a delicious meal (thanks Greg!) and got to do a little sightseeing. We also got to see "Newsies", which was STILL amazing, even though the guy playing Jack Kelly was the understudy. Rebecca used to watch the movie alllll the time when she was a teenager because she was in love with Christian Bale-ha. So she was pretty excited :)

 

I have two pretty amazing sisters. It was fun being able to spend time with them and visit New York together. I hope to go back together some time when we have more time to wander and its not as cold. 

I missed Raja though. Little Satan that she is.

Philly: About a month or so ago, a group of my friends found out that a production of "Les Mis" was playing in Philadelphia the second weekend of January and with most in the group being obsessed with the musical, decided we had to go see it. So, per usual, we crammed in the back of Matt's car and headed up 95 to Philly. It wasn't as cold as it could have been, which was a blessing. We wandered around City Hall and Reading Market then had dinner at Max Brenner. The chocolate hazelnut milkshake MAY have changed my life. Such a yummy place.

Now. On to "Les Mis". I had not seen the movie yet, and still haven't, but the stage production blew my mind. It was so well done. It is such an emotional musical and the performers were amazing. One of those performances where there's a couple times you're so stunned and all you can say is "wow". I'm so glad we went-even though the ride back was a little hazardous and we could have used a fog horn. I have some great friends.

New Year, New Opportunities.

 

 

"Let us do better than we have ever done before." -President George Albert Smith