Friday, March 28, 2008

Earth Hour- Tomorrow Night

Check this out: http://www12.earthhourus.org/

Just think of a difference we can make by turning off our lights for one hour tomorrow night at 8:00 PM. It's the same as getting 48,000 cars off the road.

Be sure to watch the video, it's inspiring.

I'm going to a party tomorrow night. The plan is to play some board games, hang out and just have fun. I asked the host if we can each bring our favorite board game and a few candles to celebrate Earth Hour. She's all about it.

Board games by candle light!! :)

Phew...

That's pretty much how I've felt lately. I've been going at about 100 miles an hour over the past two weeks.

Easter was fast and furious, with time spent with family and Mike. I was off the Thursday and Friday before Easter, so the weekend was long and relaxing. The weather was beautiful. Mike and I worked in his yard one day and made a little difference. It's slowly coming together! I also got to see some of my extended family, including my grandma.

I've begun the process of transitioning from DC to NC. I've poured over Craigslist ads for apartments and have begun to hit the job sites. My resume is updated and my cover letter drafted. I can't believe my move is around the corner.

Anticipation, joy, sadness and nervousness (among a few other sprinkled in emotions) are constantly swarming. My feelings can change at any given time.

I can't believe that in two months, I won't be living in DC. I love this city. I love my friends here. My job rocks (most days). I love the electricity in the air and the energy that radiate from people. It's contagious.

The cherry blossoms are blooming here. Spring is in the air. My neighbor, Viola, has a beautiful garden, full of daffodils and hycinthias. I can smell her hycinthias a couple houses down when the breeze cooperates. Mr. Means mowed his grass on Wednesday and I could smell the wild onions. Ahh! I think I'll go home tonight and throw open the windows for a bit...

My ten mile run is in nine days! I can't believe it. I'll be so happy when it's done. This girl will be dancing (after I reattach my legs). Thus far, I've run the longest at 8.5 miles. It took me just under two hours. An hour and 52 minutes.

There are supposed to be over 10,000 people participating. I'm hoping to be spurred on my their momentum and energy. I think after a few miles I'll be wondering if I'm crazy.

I already do wonder actually.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Some D.C. Visitors

After I left the Purple State of Mind viewing, I went home and chilled for a couple hours while I anticipated the arrival of some special guests.

Mike and his family (two sisters and bro-in-law) arrived around midnight. They came to town for the weekend and a day since we all took Monday off from work.

It was an action packed weekend for us. Neither Laura nor Jessica (sisters) had been to D.C., so we had quite a list to devour.

On Saturday we went to the National Archives, where we checked out the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. My favorite thing was the "interactive session" where we each got to make beeswax candles. I know it sounds random, but that's because it was. They were celebrating John and Abigail Adams at the Archives and had special crafts for visitors to the center. Pretty cool.

With candles in hand (or bag), we walked to Chinatown where we checked out a new (to me and hence, all) restaurant, Ella's Wood Fired Pizza. The restaurant, Zora, I had planned on going was closed for lunch. Boo. Alas, Ella's turned out to be a pleasant surprise as we devoured wood-baked personal pizzas with fresh ingredients. Mmm.

After lunch we hit the National Portrait Gallery, where Mike and I were anxious to see a temporary display of Stephen Colbert, the host of the Colbert Report. The fam humored us while Mike and I snapped pics next to the painting. To add to the humor of the narcissistic in nature painting itself, it hangs in the only place Colbert could talk the Portrait Gallery into hanging it: by the bathrooms. Hilarious!

We then spent about 20 minutes perusing the rest of the gallery before leaving for the Air and Space Museum.
The weather turned pretty cold and we were tiring, so after about 45 minutes at the Air and Space Museum, we headed back to the house for tacos and a fun game: Settlers of Caton.

div>Sunday was just as busy. After church, we headed to some memorials: The Vietnam, Korean, and Lincoln Memorial. No matter how many times I go, I always love the Lincoln Memorial.



After visiting Lincoln, we made our way to the Jefferson Memorial, one I have always wanted to see up close, but have only viewed from afar. While my wait was questionable, it was worth it. The memorial is beautiful and the view of and from it are gorgeous. We snapped pictures with the blue sky above and Potomac behind us.


After walking by the WW II memorial and taking pics there, we made our way to a famous D.C. restaurant: Ben's Chili Bowl. It's a destination known by many around here and one of the few restaurants in town that's cash only and where you'll find Senators and homeless folks dining side-by-side. It has quite a history and serves delicious and filling food! Yum! I enjoyed a Half-smoke covered in cheese, chili, onions and mustard. On the side were some cheesy fries and a chocolate milkshake. I didn't count the calories, but only indulged!

That night, we enjoyed some down time (we couldn't really move much after our big dinner). Then, we made our way to Eastern Market and had some dessert and coffee at a local Italian restaurant. We polished off the evening with another game of Settlers.

Monday Monday... up fairly early and off to the Washington Monument, where I had reserved us tickets for the daily, sold-out tour. We rode to the top and looked around for about 30 minutes before making our way back down and on to other places.

We went to another one of my favorite museums, the Natural History Museum where we hit some highlighted sections (mainly the dinosaurs, Hope Diamond, and gemstones collection) before heading back to the house. The afternoon wrapped with lunch before they hit the road for NC. Phew!!! What a weekend!

To view more pics from the weekend, click here.

A Purple State of Mind

My weekend social calendar began as soon as I clocked out on Friday.

I attended an event called Purple State of Mind at Ebenezer's, a coffee house owned by my church. You can actually read about it here and see pics of Friday night on the first link. I was almost in the second picture, but was one row too far back!

Anyway, the event was a viewing of a documentary that two friends shot in which they talk about Christianity. The two guys met as freshmen roommates at Davidson College, a Christian college in Charlotte, NC. One of the guys, John, was a devout Christian when they met and the other, Craig, was not. Craig came to Christ his freshman year of college while John denounced the faith and set out to understand why people believed.

The documentary is a candid conversation about their friendship, but more so about Christianity. They address some important issues: politics, homosexuality/ sexuality, family, Jesus, violence and war, the "end times" from an evangelical perspective, and other topics. The topics are deep and exploratory. Their emotions are raw and their honesty borders on uncomfortable. John and Craig dive into deep waters and each with the geniune desire to understand the other.

After the documentary was shown, John and Craig answered questions from the audience. I was there for about three hours. I bought the documentary and Mark's book, Reasons to Believe: One man's journey among the evangelicals and the faith he left behind. I think Marks asked some great questions and the questions are ones that I'm trying to find my voice and own some answers.

I'm hoping to show the documentary to others in order to get some conversations started. It's a great film and I'm eager to talk about it!

Monday, March 03, 2008

Vegas Confessions

Unfortunately, I forgot my computer on my kitchen table, but I did remember my camera!

Check out some pics I snapped while visiting the fam in Vegas.

I had a great time catching up with my family whom I hadn't seen in about two years!

Most of the time was spent relaxing and eating with Grandma, my aunts, uncle, and soon-to-be uncle (who's brave enough to marry into our family!). ;)

On Thursday morning I arrived after noon. Grandma landed in Vegas 20 minutes after I did, so we rented a car and headed to our condo. We settled in after eating a quick lunch (which was really dinner on "our" east coast time). After unpacking, we went to David and Mary Anne's to hang out and eat some more! Eating was a theme on this trip, btw.

Friday was one of my favorite days. Grandma and I did some exploring on the Strip, although we didnt wander that far. We went to the Monte Carlo and piddled there before grabbing a yummy lunch at the Dragon Noodle, a chinese restaurant in the casino.

Afterwards, we met up with David and attended a play that my aunt Pookie directed and starred in, Vagina Monologues. While the title is a bit intimidating, it was an awesome play and I was proud of my aunt's performance and directoral role. She did great! Also, I got to meet her fiance, Mark, who will be joining the family in August (yay!).

On Saturday, Grandma and I met up with David and Mary Anne for a hearty brunch at Wynn. We stayed full for hours. And more hours. I had everything from french toast to sushi to ice cream. It was quite yummy and very filling.

That night, the four of us met up with Pookie and Mark for a "last supper" before I left town on Sunday morning. All in all, the trip was fabulous. I made some great memories, most of which I can share... cuz you know, not everything leaves Vegas.