Goodbye 2009

We had such a fantastic year in 2009, that it is kind of hard to see it go. I tried new things, welcomed a lot of visitors, took a few trips, said goodbye to some great friends and met several new ones. Looking through my photos from 2009 made me nostalgic (if you can be nostalgic about things that happened less than 12 months ago.

January 2009

The year started with the tail end of our New Year's Eve party. This party was kind of a farewell to a group of our friends. We had nine friends move to different places all over the world within the next few months, and we miss them madly. We braved the crowds to see Obama's inauguration, then joined our fellow soldiers/spouses at an inaugural ball. I had a good excuse to buy a ball gown, we saw Barack/Michelle & Joe/Jill dance, and we were entertained by Bon Jovi and Josh Groban, among others. Quite a night.

February 2009

Levi & I drove to Savannah, GA to do a little exploring, then on to Disneyworld and Universal Studios, then met up with some old friends on our road trip home.

March 2009

Took a little road trip to Pittsburgh to see Adil and Ashley, saw the Andy Warhol museum at Carnegie Mellon, the French/Indian War museum at the point, ate wonderful food and incredible ice cream. Came home and saw Brendon Small in concert with his School of Rock. I got a new job at Earth Day Network. We drove up to Central PA to pick up our baby chinchillas, Snuggly Buggles and Scrambles the Death Dealer.

April 2009

My friend Shari brought her kids for a visit and we took them on the monument/museum tour. We saw everything from the Capitol to the cherry blossoms to the Holocaust museum to the White House and made huge meals for the seven of us. Flight of the Conchords concert, backstage at Earth Day on the National Mall where we met The Flaming Lips.

May 2009

Played with a pinata at Cinco de Mayo. Mom & Robyn came to visit over Memorial Day weekend. I showed them all of my favorite spots in DC, we met an old lady named Happy at the FDR Memorial, cried with the biker veterans at the Vietnam Memorial, saw pandas in the rain at the zoo, played on the giant at National Harbor, fed squirrels, and got yelled at by guards at Arlington Cemetery.

June 2009

Levi was promoted to SSG. I ran my first 5K in the pouring rain. When the weather finally cleared up for the summer we went on a hike with Mike & Suzie and relaxed at our new favorite winery in Maryland.

July 2009

Another road trip to Pittsburgh where we spent hours at the aquarium and zoo complete with a baby seal and baby elephant. Ryan came to visit for the month and we went to Busch Gardens, New York, the Late Show with David Letterman, Great Falls and took a West Wing tour of the White House. We crammed so much in, and it was one of my favorite months of the year.

August 2009

Yard work and painting at an elementary school for the Lockheed Martin volunteer day, zip lining with Sarah, kayaking for the first time, and dozens of bands (and $11 beer) at the Virgin Music Festival.

September 2009

Gramma & Grampa came to visit and we went on a tour of the U.S. Capitol. Levi and I did a high ropes course (another first) with Sarah, and I quit Earth Day Network (yay!) and got a job with Levi at Lockheed Martin. Now Levi and I commute to work together.

October 2009

Such a month... Our Make a Pizza party was a hit, Mom came to visit and we drove to Pennsylvania together to see the Amish people in Intercourse, went on another Capitol tour, toured the National Cathedral. I visited my family in Southern Utah where we went to Bryce Canyon, Snow Canyon, enjoyed the desert, carved pumpkins and had an incredible time. Tobi and Brady visited and we ran around in the rain, had all manner of fun with our friends and went to Six Flags. Whew. Another one of my favorites.

November 2009

Took a mind-blowing trip to Manzanillo, Mexico to see Ashley & Adil get married, snorkeled a coral reef and sunken ship, ATVed in the jungle, ate the best food and hung around in our swimsuits all day. Around the World party was a blast and the food was wonderful. Cajun Thanksgiving with friends then regular Thanksgiving with coworkers.

December 2009

Getting ready for Christmas, lots of shopping (hey, it's a highlight for me). Went to the National Christmas tree with Josh & Karen, moved into our new office. Visited family and friends in Salt Lake City where we saw everyone after way too long, went out to eat way too much and opened lots of gifts (yay!). Wrapped up 2009 the same way we brought it in... a New Year's Eve/birthday party with our new friends.

Good luck 2010... you have some huge shoes to fill.

My 2008 Favorites

I am finally getting around to putting down my favorite things of 2008. I'll be happy if 2009 is half as great as 2008 was. These are things that made 2008 worth talking about.

1. Getting in (better) shape. Thanks to my walking/biking commute to work, the George Washington Parkway bike trail and our favorite little gym on Fort Belvoir, I am 20 pounds lighter than I was at this time last year.

2. Fireflies. One of my favorite things about moving to a new place is being constantly surprised by the different plants and animals. The birds and trees were enough to keep me excited all year, but nothing topped watching the fireflies.

3. Campaigns and rallies. We spent a good amount of the summer and autumn months at the Obama campaign office. We met some great like-minded people and saw a tiny piece of what it takes to run for a national office. I think it is like working as a towel boy for your favorite football team, then watching them win the Superbowl.

4. Rock Band. Yep, I spent plenty of time plinking away on a plastic guitar or singing into a microphone this year. I like the way you can get anyone to come to your house if you just say that you have Rock Band. A couple of drinks and Rock Band for a few hours... that is what Friday nights are for. Or Wednesday, or Monday...

5. Rachel Maddow on TV. Okay, I rarely get to watch her show on MSNBC because of my cable-less-ness. She has been my favorite political newsperson for the few years that she has been on Air America, and I love love seeing her all over the place now! Go Rachel!

6. The Batman roller coaster at Six Flags America. Hanging over the ground like you are flying. Coolest coaster ever.

7. Bust magazine. I finally subscribed to Bust this year after picking up individual issues for a while. Every new issue is better! Nice job making a magazine for working/crafting/DIYing/indie green feminists who vacuum and make cupcakes! It shows that you can be a feminist and feminine at the same time.

8. Lolcats. I guess technically I started loving this at the end of '07, but who's keeping track? icanhascheezburger.com and punditkitchen.com have turned into staples in my house. Not quite as important, but still worth noting, are lolsecretz and locatbible. Too ridiculous to explain.

9. Teaching ESL lessons. I work for an international business. Along with that comes international people. A few employees from Pakistan and the Philippines got together with me for weekly ESL lessons. I made up the lessons and they completed them in surprisingly creative and funny ways. It helped us get to know each other really well and taught everyone proper comma placement at the same time!

10. My Kenyan chat buddy. On the international note, I have a Skype chat buddy from Kenya. He teaches me words and tells me about his day to day activities. It is nice to hear about how different things are in other places.

The Five Things I Am Loving Right Now

1. Stephen Colbert's "Charlene (I'm Right Behind You)" on Rock Band II. This has been one of my favorites for some time now, but the fact that it is a free download on Rock Band II is the best.


2. The new Belle & Sebastian BBC Sessions CD is making me very happy. It is a great selection of songs, including four rare tracks.

3. This time of year always makes me feel crafty. Last year I made my own Christmas cards. This year I ordered a few embroidery patterns from Sublime Stitching and got to work. So far I have embroidered a cute little hedgehog on a dish towel. Boy oh boy is it cute. Next: zombies and pirates. And a squirrel.

4. I have new hair! It's dark with a little red. Also, say hello to bangs. (I love it.)

5. I finally bought tickets for our flight home for Christmas. Oh jeez, they were expensive. But it is worth it! We have not been in Salt Lake since last Christmas, and I have only seen my family for a few days all year. I'll drop a grand or two every year if that is what it takes.

Pow! Bam! Smack!

When I was a "tween" I did not bother with New Kids on the Block and whatever else those other girls were going crazy for. I know this has something to do with the fact that I am the oldest child and I did not have anyone to mold me into a cool kid. My youngest sister just turned 12 and she gets obsessive over things like Hannah Montana and High School Musical like every other 12-year-old out there.

What did I choose to focus my pre-teen obsession on? Batman, of course. Batman everything - from Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney to Adam West and whoever played the Bat in the awesome cartoon. I watched it all and actively drooled over every version of Batman and Robin. I had posters all over my room and spent my time daydreaming about being rescued by a man in a bat costume and his teenage sidekick. I watched reruns of the old Adam West show every day after school, then laid in bed and used my imagination to put myself into the episodes.

So imagine my excitement when I could drool over Batman again, at 26-years-old, without being considered nutty. I watched Jon Stewart interview Maggie Gyllenhaal a couple of days before I saw Dark Knight. She talked about how exciting it was for her to be rescued by Batman, even though it was on a movie set. She had never gotten into Batman when she was younger, but now she is a convert, and she obviously has a bit of a crush on the superhero now. Just like me! I would have cut off my right hand to be in Maggie's spot when I was 13.

Between my overwhelming crush on Batman and the pictures of Health Ledger that I would tear out of tween magazines and hang all over the place, I was in young-Cali heaven for 2 1/2 hours yesterday. Unfortunately, I don't think I will ever get as excited as I used to... it might not be hormonally possible.

Top Twelve Reasons I Am Glad That I Moved

Here are a few reasons why moving here has been really, really good for me:

1. I walk everywhere.
2. I don't have a car, so I can't go shopping and go out to eat in the evenings while Levi is at work. I actually have to find something to do with myself at home, which is usually constructive.
3. No more smoking.
4. I still talk to my family a lot, but now I have much more to tell them about.
5. I get to see and learn more about history and politics than I ever would have anywhere else.
6. I am never bored.
7. I found out that I can make friends like a pro.
8. I don't drink much. I am pretty much healthier all the way around. No smoking, not as much drinking, not eating out as much. Plus, we have Trader Joes, so yummy + healthy is easy to find.
9. Great local music scene.
10. About a million new book stores, music stores, restaurants, coffee shops, etc.
11. Joe got me a bunch of Mac software, so I am closer to my laptop than ever.
12. I live in a place that is cool enough for everyone to want to come visit.

I know there are a lot more, but these were on my mind today.

Afternoon to Remember

Nothing is a whole lot cooler than living in DC. Being able to spend a Saturday afternoon walking around the National Mall or browsing the Smithsonian makes life significantly more interesting. There are a lot of things that are completely different to me. For one thing, I can get anywhere I want by walking or taking the Metro. It is not as depressing to be without a car as I thought it would be. I think it actually makes my life a little more interesting.


On Saturday Levi and I took the Metro to Dupont Circle to meet someone who is interviewing Iraq war veterans for a research project. Before we met her, we stopped for flatbread sandwiches at Cosi. Mine was chicken, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil. Levi's was roast beef and wasabi. They were delicious.



Then we wandered into a little bakery / coffee shop and picked up some Valentine's Day sprinkle cookies that I ended up trying to feed to a sad-looking statue later on.




After the interview we walked around Dupont Circle and admired the buildings. Then it was off to Embassy Row. Not on purpose... we just stumbled upon it.



There were statues everywhere... some of them were people and some were elephants. This is in front of the Indian Embassy. We also saw Ghandi and Buffalos and lots of political leaders from around the world.




This is one of the most tolerant churches I have ever seen. On the other end of the church was a SaveDarfur.org banner. Nice to know someone is aware of how Jesus would have really wanted things. (Psst... he would have been a liberal.)



Across the street from the church was a gas station where I had a very random experience. After walking around for a couple of hours, we both realized the need to find a restroom. We spent the next fifteen minutes spell-checking an essay for the clerk's English class. Odd, but kind of fun.

There are so many restaurants in DC, we could eat out every day for the next ten years and never hit all of them. This realization inspired us to make a promise not to eat at chain restaurants anymore. We are pretty good about that anyway, but this experience made it necessary to pinkie-swear. (We might cheat with the occasional Chipotle burrito.)

The next stop was a little independently owned bookstore. It made us promise not to shop at Barnes & Noble anymore either.



While we were strolling, we came upon a street that was all blocked off to traffic. There were a few people walking and biking around, so we thought we would check it out. Turns out it was Pennsylvania Avenue, so we got some nice White House photos.



Right in front of the White House there was a guy with an arsenal of picket signs. Everything from anti-war to pro-life posters. He was sorting through them when we walked by, and I got this picture as he was picking out two of them to hold up. It seems to me that protesting kind of loses its impact if you have a sign for everything.


After several hours of exploring, we jumped on the Metro to head home. We had to change lines in Chinatown, and we decided to get dinner at a place that we had walked by a couple of weeks ago called Wok and Roll. Awesome name for a restaurant. They had great sushi and sesame chicken. Yum.




We have been checking on Joe and Charlotte's dog this weekend, so we stopped for some Corona and went to their house. We played with Georgia-dog and watched Charlie Wilson's War, then one of us had the brilliant idea to take advantage of the Rock Band. Needless to say, we didn't get home until very late. Overall, it was a perfect day.

Tonight we are checking out the Grammy's. There have been a few highlights, but generally not too impressive. Right now I am watching Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis and their dueling pianos. That is definitely entertaining.

Before the Grammy's was Katie Couric and Hillary Clinton on 60 minutes. After the interview she spoke about John McCain not being able to show up for an interview. Here is something that Katie did that needs to stop:

"We look forward to having him on...
...in the near future."

There was a very pregnant pause between "on" and "in." Right in the middle of the sentence. Go ahead, say it out loud. You hear news anchors do it all of the time. It sounds so unnatural, Ms. Couric should probably knock it off. Of course, she is the professional, not me.


I will end this post with a picture of the darling coffee shop birds eating our sprinkle cookies. I don't think I will ever stop getting excited over all of the birds and squirrels that are running around this city. We even saw a mouse trying to get into a Slim Jim wrapper under the Metro tracks. Aw, cute.

Something to Write Home About...

I've had a blog for a while, but it was mostly full of little diddies that I wrote and not much about me. Considering that I don't want anyone to read my little diddies, I figured that was not the best use for a public blog on the internet machine. So, I replaced it with something that I don't mind sharing.

For me, blogging is kind of like the grown-up version of leaving my diary around the house so my mom would read it. I love writing about myself and knowing that someone else is reading it. So, read away. Of course, since i have never been very good at writing in a diary, I probably won't be very good at keeping up a blog. But I'll do my best.

I, like millions of others, am hooked on Lost. And I am ecstatic that it is not one of those shows that is taking a break. Au contraire, while my other favorite shows are on hiatus, Lost came back from the not-quite-dead. Thank you J.J. Abrams, for getting me all excited and giving me something fictional to hypothesize about from Thursday to Thursday.

I am also enamored with finding new music and downloading as much of it as possible. Legally, of course. Since Levi is hunting down bad guys in the evenings these days, I have been spending a good deal of time finding new stuff to please my ears. The Darjeeling Limited soundtrack is fun and different and makes me want to see the movie again. The Elected is a good time... it is Blake Sennett from Rilo Kiley doing something on the side. I knew I liked a few Grandaddy songs, but I love their "Just Like the Fambly Cat." I didn't know if I was going to like "In Rainbows," the new Radiohead. But, I do. Thank you Joe for that little masterpiece.

Here's something to write home about... I quit smoking when we made our big move from Texas to DC. I figured it would either be a big mistake or the perfect time to quit. Turns out, it was perfect. I quit the weekend before Christmas and I have been 95% successful. That 5% comes from two nights when I was out drinking heavily with smokers. Oh well, what are ya gonna do? Anyway, the only time that I really, really want to smoke is when I drink. I also want to smoke when I talk on the phone, when I'm alone, when I am in a car and when I am walking. And right after I eat dinner. But those times are not as bad as when I drink. If anyone can tell me how to get over that alcohol+cigarette craving, I would be eternally grateful. As would all of the other smokers/ex-smokers in the world. Kids, don't start smoking. You know, I think the idea of quitting was worse than the actual quitting. Because the one thing that makes me not start again is the thought of having to quit. Again. Man, it is a good thing I never did heroin.

Enough about bad habits. I would like to welcome all of you to my not-quite-first blog post. My first post on this blog. That turned out to be kind of a downer. Keep coming back and get to know me a little better. Or a lot better, depending on how excited I get about this whole blogging thing.

Until next time...