Kate's Visit to Austin

To celebrate the our wonderful country and our priceless freedom, Kate and I headed to the capital of Texas! We spent the 100+ degree weekend exploring Austin, eating lots of great food (mostly Mexican) and drinking lots of adult beverages (mostly margaritas)!

Guero's Taco Bar on South Congress - yummy!!

My beautiful baby sister!

Beautiful boots....everywhere!

An Austin sunset while we waited for the bats on Congress Street Bridge

The BATS!!

Lone Star beers and dancin' at the Broken Spoke

The Fourth on Lake Travis

Drinks at The Belmont on the Fourth

Thanks so much for coming to visit me, Kate!! I had so much fun with you, as always! Love you!

I've been tagged...

I haven't posted in forever! For those of you who don't know...I'm in the thrilling metropolis of Temple, Texas at the moment! (Not nearly as exciting as I'm making it out to be) I'll be here for another three weeks - only a four week assignment, then I have no idea where I'm going next.

There's really nothing else to update on (my life is pretty boring), but I was tagged twice (by Meredith and Tipi), so I thought I'd comply. Here goes:

8 x 8

Things I am looking forward to:
1. Kate's visit for the 4th of July
2. My 30th Birthday
3. A trip with my sisters to celebrate my 30th
4. OT pay
5. Going to Destin with the Fam sometime before the summer is over
6. My future
7. Kate's visit for the 4th of July
8. Finding out where I'm going next

Things I did yesterday: (WARNING: I'm boring!)
1. Worked
2. Read my book (at work)
3. Taught a newly diagnosed 14 year old diabetic how to check his blood sugar
4. Gave two IV antibiotics and some pain meds
5. Talked to my parents 4-5 times in about 2 hours
6. Made tacos in my hotel room
7. Took a quiz on Facebook
8. Went to bed at 9:00

Things I wish I could do:
1. Be home with my family
2. Be in Birmingham with my friends
3. Pay off my debt
4. Buy a house
5. Go to the beach
6. Go to the lake
7. Get a pedicure (I might actually do this one!)
8. Anything remotely exciting in Temple, TX

Shows I watch (all year)
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Private Practice
3. Greek
4. How I Met Your Mother
5. Big Bang Theory
6. 90210
7. Gossip Girl
8. My DVR is always full, but for some reason I can't think of another show!

Favorite foods
1. Anything Mexican
2. Guacamole from Rosa Mexicano
3. Sushi
4. Anything from my Mom's kitchen
5. Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich (I didn't get much in DC :( )
6. Boiled shrimp at the beach
7. Chili in the mountains
8. Red wine (that counts, doesn't it?)

Places I've traveled
1. Ireland
2. New York City
3. Big Sky, Montana
4. Washington, DC
5. Monterrey, Mexico
6. Victoria, BC
7. Seattle, WA
8. St. Thomas, USVI

Places I would like to travel:
1. Australia
2. London
3. Fiji
4. New Zealand
5. Alaska
6. Back to Ireland
7. South America
8. Africa

People I tag:
1. Allison Penuel
2. Mary Dickenson
3. Mallory Congleton
4. Denise Scroggins
5. Becky Engram
6. Amanda Roberson
7. Fran Skipper
8. Jessica Dills

I'll be sure to post pics from Kate's visit and our trip to Austin!

Family Easter Visit

Easter weekend, Mom, Dad and Kate came to visit me for a long weekend.  We had a fabulous time - the only thing missing was Alli, and Thad, Will, AG and Clydie!  I hadn't seen any of my family since the first part of January!  I had never gone that long without seeing them, so it was so great to finally be with at least part of my fam!

We ate lots of good food, drank lots of good wine, gin and beer (not at the same time, of course) and saw lots of great sites.  We did the Holocaust Museum, Mount Vernon, the Capitol, Georgetown, Arlington Cemetery, the White House, and the Portraiture Museum.  So much stuff crammed into such a short and rainy weekend.  

And for Easter morning, we drove to Gaithersburg to visit our former pastor, Mary Beth Lawrence, at her church.  It was great to see her and I think we really surprised her!  

We had such a great time and it made me so happy to be with the people I love so much!!  Here are a few random pics from the weekend:

Isn't my Daddy's new bowtie so cute?!

SNOW!

So the day after all of my friends in Birmingham, Auburn, Marietta and Winston got their snow, I finally got my snow in DC.  We got about 5 or 6 inches overnight and it was snowing like crazy the next morning.  Everything was beautiful covered in snow!!  But it was the biggest pain in the butt getting to work!  I'm a Georgia-girl and we don't learn how to drive in the snow down there, so there was no way I was going to drive.  The night before, I studied the bus schedule and maps and decided I'd brave it and take the bus.  Well, buses don't run on time in the snow either and, long story short, I waited in blizzard-like conditions (for me, at least) for over an hour, only to have the bus driver drive right past me!!  Needless to say, I was pretty pissed.  I finally wound up getting in to work at 1:15 that afternoon!!

Here are some pics from the 21st floor (the snow came before the move):

Another Move (for the better)

A couple of weekends ago, I moved apartments.  I'm now in Clarendon, which is a great neighborhood of Arlington - cool shops, great restaurants, a Whole Foods, and so close to a Metro!  My apartment is great, too - reminds me of Canterbury in Bham.  And, I have a pull-out sofa, so more room for y'all to come visit!

Elizabeth's Visit!

I'm catching up on some long overdue blogging tonight!

I'll go back a month to Valentine's weekend when Elizabeth came to DC to be my Valentine!  She flew in Thursday night and was such a good friend and brave girl to spend the day Friday exploring on her own while I went to work.  She shopped in Georgetown that day, which is fine with me, because if you know me, you know shopping is not my favorite hobby!  But, I met her after work and we went to Rosa Mexicano for their famous pomegranate margaritas and fresh guacamole!!

Saturday we cheesed it up at Madame Toussaud's with George Clooney and GW Bush, then visited the newly re-opened Ford's Theater and saw the coat Lincold was wearing the night he was shot and the room where he died across the street.  Very cool things to see on his 200th birthday!

Saturday night, we had Valentine's dinner with Lucy Mc at a cool new sushi place downtown.  Great dinner with great friends!  Elizabeth left me Sunday afternoon, but we had a great time and I'm so glad I have such a great friend in her!!

More to Come

I have been without cable and internet for too long now! But, the Comcast Man is coming on Thursday, so I will update this weekend!
In the meantime, Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Cheers!

DC in the Springtime!

No, I'm not crazy...I know it's not springtime yet - the high tomorrow is only 38, so we're far from it.  But, I've extended my contract and will be here until the beginning of June!  That means I get to experience the Cherry Blossom Festival, visit the National Zoo, weekend trips to the Deleware beach and Baltimore...plus more time for friends and family to come visit me!!!

More to come...Elizabeth visited this weekend and I'll post about our adventures!

Heat Wave

DC was blessed with a warm front today - a whopping 50 degrees!!  So, I took advantage of the beautiful weather and set off on foot to explore some more.

I walked across the Key Bridge from Rosslyn into Georgetown and window shopped along M Street.  From there I walked right down to the Memorials and Monuments - Washington, WWII, Korean, Vietnam and Lincoln.  (The WWII Memorial and Korean Memorial were new to me - last time I was in DC was in the 8th grade.)  I loved being able to wander alone among these amazing memorials.  I went at my own pace, snapped pictures when I felt like it, and was able to honor the men and women that are honored in these places.  What a great day!  Enjoy the pics:

ps....I saw Slumdog Millionaire yesterday...and LOVED it - Fabulous!!  I highly recommend it to all!

I'm a Big Girl Now

I'm almost thirty, so I guess it's about time I felt like a grown-up (even if I still have to talk to my mommy everyday)!

I was so proud of myself yesterday - I took the Metro into the city, had lunch, found the National Portrait Gallery (only having to look at the map once before I left my apt) and explored on my own.  Then, today, I DROVE into the city, parked at Union Station and explored the area.  I feel so independent and grown-up in the big city!

We Are One - The Concert at the Lincoln Memorial

Yesterday, Danielle, Greg and I journeyed to the Mall for the big Inaugural Concert.  There were so many people and the greatest influx hadn't even come in yet!  We got down there right as the first speaker, Denzel Washington, was taking the stage.  They were turning people away from the Lincoln Memorial, so we gathered with the rest at the base of the Washington Monument and watched it on a Jumbotron.  There were so many people, it was hard to see and hard to hear, but at least we were there!

We heard Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Mary J. Blige, James Taylor, Jennifer Nettles, John Legend and Josh Groban perform and Denzel, Tom Hanks, Steve Carrell, Queen Latifah and MLK III speak.  After about an hour, we decided to head back to the burbs before everybody else and get some drinks.

Here are some pics of the crowds....

Danielle and Greg

John Legend and James Taylor

John Mellencamp

My newest adventure has begun!!

Last week, I started my new adventure in the Nation's capital - Washington, DC!!  And what a time to start!  Me and millions of other people coming into the city at one time!

Mom rode up here with Mobi and me and helped us get settled in on Sunday.  Then we explored on Monday - White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.  

I think our favorite part was the Star Spangled Banner exhibit in the Museum of American History - awesome, literally!  We couldn't talk to each other the entire way through the exhibit because we both had huge lumps in our throats and were afraid we'd cry if we dared talk!  It really made me so proud to be an American and grateful for this beautiful country we live in.  (Sorry for the cheese!)  Oh yeah - and while we were shopping at H&M, the Presidential Motorcade came through!!  We have no idea which President was in there, if any, but it was still pretty cool! 

I started orientation at Children's National on Tuesday and mom left on Wednesday.  Before she left we had dinner with my friends Danielle (from high school) and Joseph (from elementary school) at the Fish Market in Old Town Alexandria.  I'm so glad I have those two friends here!

Here are some shots we took of the sites and of my apartment - on the 21st story!!!

ps....this is the world's worst invention - a washer/dryer combo!  it takes 4 HOURS to do ONE load of laundry and it doesn't even dry the clothes completely!!  AAGGGHHHH!!!!!