Four Days Down

Great news! I survived the first week of school. It was borderline brutal, but I came out from under hundreds of emails a day (I wish I was exaggerating), Zoom office hours, so much information, and what felt like just a constant whirlwind relatively unscathed. I feel like I can sum up the past 5 weeks of my return to work by saying I feel like I have never worked so hard, or so relentlessly, to have what feels like so little progress made. The first year of anything is hard, but this is a lot of firsts on top of each other. Thankfully, I have a very supportive team, and I am quickly learning to be more patient with myself not knowing everything yet.

We are still finding time to have some fun as temperatures seem to finally be falling into tolerable numbers. Last weekend, we went into DC with the intention of walking around Roosevelt Island when we got there it was so crowded we couldn't even get a parking spot. We ended up just going to see the FDR Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and walking around a bit. When we were walking back to our car along the river we winessed a Trump rally on the water...definitely interesting.

Quinn wanted to see the White House so we drove over closer and started to walk into the park but they wouldn't let us in. We walked around to the back so she could see it from there. On our way back up, we could tell something was about to happen, so we decided to stop and wait for a couple minutes. We were able to see Trump's motorcade returning to the White House. This blog now says the current president's name about two more times than I am comfortable with. After this we went to the Black Lives Matter plaza before heading back home and stopping by one of our favorite places to eat on the way home and having a car picnic. Safe to say we saw all parts of the DC political spectrum this day. 

We spent this weekend outside and doing a few things around the house. We played some games, got some ice cream (a rare treat for us with the peanut allergy), and we are finishing the weekend by watching Trolls World Tour. I'm hoping this week slows down a bit as we work toward this new and hopefully temporary new normal. I miss school energy! Good luck this week friends!

Vacationish

I use the term vacation loosely here. It was a vacation in the time of Coronavirus. And by vacation I mostly mean Matt didn't have to work and we went places together on not a weekend day. So anyway, vacation week was last week. We made the best of it and it was actually a pretty good time. 

Monday: we went fishing in our creek. That was about the extent of it cause we had a few other things we had to do this day. 

Tuesday: Backstory- Matt has always wanted to go to Luray Caverns. I have never wanted to go to Luray Caverns. I am terrified of Luray Caverns. I always told him that would be a great trip for him to go on with Quinn and have some bonding time. Well here we were 137 into a pandemic and the thought of going to Luray Caverns was less terrifying than one more day stuck around my house. Lucky us that we were about the 3rd people to check into good old Luray that morning and pretty much had the dark, wet, underground cave to ourselves. Clearly, I survived and it wasn't that bad. We had to wear masks the whole time and my glasses were either fogged or I just quit wearing them, so maybe it helped I couldn't really see. 

After Luray Caverns we took a little drive over the Shenandoah National Park. We did the Stony Man Trail, which ended up being perfect. It was about 3 miles roundtrip. There was minimal complaining and Quinn was super proud of herself once we got to the summit and hung out at viewpoint enjoying the mountain views. 

Wednesday: Quinn wanted us to take her to DC so we could all touch the Washington Monument. We went in the middle of the day. It was crazy how empty it was. If you have ever been to DC in the summer, you know how many tourists there usually are, but it was almost like we had the place to ourselves. We visited the MLK memorial, WW2, Washington Monument, Lincoln memorial, and the Korean War memorial. We decided to quit while we were ahead and head back home because DC is also unbearably hot in the summer. 

Thursday: We planned to go to Pittsburgh for the weekend, but stopped off at Shenandoah again. We had planned to just do the first trail in the park, but when we got out of the car there was someone reporting a bear a few minutes down the trail to a park ranger. We decided to drive a little further in and ended up at the Land's Run trail. It ended at a nice little waterfall that made the steep downhill and uphill worth it. 

Pittsburgh: We were able to see lots of my family, enjoy cooler temperatures, celebrate Matt's birthday and my Grandma's birthday. It was a nice relaxing visit minus a 6:30 wake up call from Quinn which including a concert on the piano.

It was a great week and it was really nice to finally visit with family since we haven't seen anyone for the duration of pandemic. We are look forward to making Shenandoah a more regular visit since it's not that far. This is my last week of summer before my official contract starts. I'm hoping to squeeze in a little bit more excitement!

Mount Vernon

This past weekend Matt and I visited Mount Vernon! I had been saying I wanted to go to Mount Vernon for YEARS. I'm not kidding. We would always talk about going, but then find something else to do, or just not go. We finally followed through on Sunday. 

My overall impression...Mount Vernon is HUGE. Seriously. I have never in my life seen so much space in all of Northern Virginia. All I could think the whole time is what that property would be worth to some property developer. Billions. It's all so pretty too. Lots of trees, and of course, the gorgeous view from the back of the house of the Potomac. 

We spent our time walking around the gardens and exploring the different buildings. We also toured the main house and visited Washington's tomb. One of the best parts of the day was when we went to visit Lady Washington. At first I was a little bored and wanted to get on our way, but naturally Matthew had to get his questions in. Martha did not like Matt's Yankee questions at all. She kept in her proper Southern lady character refusing to answer him. Matt was frustrated. After listening for a little longer we got up to leave. Martha stopped her whole banter with the crowd to tell Matt how much she enjoyed him, but he is obviously a New Englander with his progressive views. I thought that was hilarious, and Matt equated it to the Colonial middle finger. 

My trip to Mount Vernon made me like George Washington even more. I was intrigued about why everything/everyone referred to him as the General vs. the President, so I asked. Washington thought you should only have the title of president while in office (a view I share). Washington also wasn't a member of a political party...YES. There were many other facts I'm drawing a blank on right now, but in my book GW is a winner and so is a visit to Mount Vernon. I do think, though, that they should let you bring snacks so you can have a pretty picnic. No food allowed. Rude. 

After walking so much, and not having anything to eat, we took a little drive down the GW Parkway toward Alexandria. We landed upon District Taco, a place I had been wanting to try. Fate. My first experience was good, but not amazing. It's not somewhere I absolutely have to go back to, but I would. In summary, Mount Vernon is a YES, District Taco is a maybe. Get to it Virginia friends and tourists :) 

Staycation 101

This past week Matt and I have been on a 'Staycation.' We tried this a little last year, with a little trip to the beach in the middle, but this year we spent the whole week around here. This year our Staycation was awesome. We had the perfect mix of productivity and funsies. When I say productivity, I don't mean like cleaning the house, running errands, yard work, etc. The things we made progress with were big decisions that had been put off until we had more time (me being off for the summer, and Matt having only one job to worry about) to put thought into them. I'm going to do a little wrap up of what we did this week :)

Day One: Tuesday we got up and decided to conquer the baby registry process. I am pleased to say this was much more enjoyable than the wedding registry. No one got mad, no one was 'hangry,' we both hung in the whole time. Not only did we go to Target, we also visited Babies R Us. We took a very well planned break in the middle of the day for lunch and a dress fitting. We accidentally stumbled up a new-ish restaurant called The Bone, and we both loved it! Definite success.

Day Two: Wednesday we decided to lay low and just went to the pool during the day. I got the worst sunburn because after 31 years I still can't apply sunscreen correctly, and have to learn the same lesson every summer. After hanging out all day we had reservations at one of our favorite restaurants, Founding Farmers. We visited the newest location in Tysons Corner, which we hadn't been to before. It was great food as usual.

Day Three: Thursday we took care of some items on our to do list around town. Not the most exciting day, but things that needed to be done. Matt wanted to go to BJ's for dinner, so we did. I am not a BJ's lover. After this trip, BJ's is no longer allowed (probably). The night was saved, though, because we went by Safeway to get a RedBox movie (American Sniper) on the way home, and through great teamwork also came up with the great idea to make s'mores (on the gas stove - don't laugh until you've tried it)!

Day Four: Friday we each had our own thing to do in the morning. In the afternoon, I might have accidentally fallen asleep. We went out people watching after we had dinner and then watched Birdman when we got home. Matt thought this movie was great. I did not.

Day Five: Saturday it rained ALL day here. So disappointing because we had already made plans to go to The Capital Grille for lunch and spend the day in DC. We decided to still go downtown. After a delicious lunch we planned on going to a museum, but it was raining so hard and it was windy. We just walked next door to the National Archives and then decided to just go home after seeing the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. We stopped for a treat at Starbucks on the way home, and then started watching Rectify on Netflix Saturday night. Rectify is by the same producers as Breaking Bad, and was recommended for people who loved Mad Men. I'm not totally sold yet, but it's early.

Day Six: Sunday we got up early and headed to Harper's Ferry, WV. This was about an hour and fifteen minute ride from our house, but neither of us had ever been there. Matt was excited about the history, I was more excited about going somewhere I haven't been, and some pretty scenery. We got a pretty good mix of both, maybe a little heavier on the history side. We also ended up hiking many, many miles and saw a pretty waterfall and nice views of the Shenandoah as well. After driving back home, and relaxing for a short bit, we decided to go to the Stephens City Drive In about an hour from our house. This made for a long day, and a lot of driving, but it was all pretty cool. We stopped at Wegmans to get snacks and dinner to take with us. We stayed for both movies, Inside Out and Tomorrowland. We were really only wanting to see the first, which both of us liked. Tomorrowland left a lot to be desired in both our opinions.

Day Seven: We decided to make our last day a super chill day and mostly just hung out around the house, with the exception of one errand and a silly decision we have wavered for years on. I am so happy that's over. I will spare you the boring details. Really.

I think you can tell I highly recommend a Staycation, but know that maybe it wouldn't work everywhere. We live somewhere that there are SO MANY activities to do and places that are only a short drive away. Also, we do have a second vacation planned this summer. I don't know if I would be so happy about staying home if I didn't know I was getting out of town in a few weeks. But, really, I think everyone should try it!

2014, In Review!

Oh 2014, what a year it's been!  We've had so many highlights. I went back through my blog to pick out a few of my favorites from this year. Enjoy this year's summary, and enjoy your last night of 2014!

A big theme throughout my posts from January, February, and even March was SNOW! We were lucky enough to enjoy many snow days last winter. I am beginning to wonder where they have been this school year. I hope they find us soon! During one of those early January snows I remember binge watching episodes of Orange is the New Black. I recently heard somewhere that Netflix is one of the biggest game changers of 2014, and I have to agree. Binging on OITNB and Breaking Bad were great breaks from reality. And our Breaking Bad finale party was a fun night to begin our fall.

Spring was full of big achievements! Matt graduated with his Masters in History from George Mason. It was a great celebration of a lot of hard work, late and stressful nights and weekends. Also in the spring, I completed my first ten mile race and half marathon! In the realm of big accomplishments might also fall my relinquishment of coffee, not to say there haven't been some cheat days :)

The summer of 2014 was my best in a long time. For the first time in a long time I chose not to work during my time off from school. We started the summer off with a trip to Dewey Beach for a few days. Soon after we drove to Boston to celebrate Matt's sister's wedding. The rest of the summer was filled with lots of funsies with friends around town and by the pool. I also very pleased with the amount of leisurely reading I did. There was also some time spent being tourists in our own town. Most recently, as DC tourists, we were able to get up close and personal with the White House.

Of course no year would be complete without our families or our friends. We had plenty of game nights and other events to keep us occupied on the weekends in Virginia. Visits to Massachusetts and Pittsburgh, or visits from our families, for holidays and other exciting times, are always our favorites.

Going back to school after a fun summer is usually a little bit of a drag, but this year I have had some exciting things going on to make my time at work a little more pleasurable. I was given my own classroom to use for my lessons! And I have also been enjoying holding some book clubs with my fifth graders. This fall Matt and I also found the illusive Bull Run Mountain and hiked to the top not once, but twice.

I am so looking forward to going through our Boston Baked Bean Pot tonight to find some more happy memories. I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for us! If our plans for January are any indication, I know it will be a great year!

Christmas at The White House

The Cross Hall and Grand Foyer with the Blue Room tree in the background

Yesterday Matt and I went to the White House! Back in July, when we were on a mission to be tourists in our own city, we asked for a tour. I suggested Christmas time so that we could see it all decorated. Little did we know at the time that it would be perfect timing with the program that we went to at the Archives on Thursday. The program definitely helped me spot details and know a little bit extra background information.

The Blue Room's 18 foot tree, decorated with the theme America the Beautiful

Close up of the 2,000 ornaments

This post is going to be few on words and heavy on pictures. Overall the tour was only OK. It is self guided and you don't get to see much of the White House. I suppose security really should be the priority. And speaking of security, it took us longer to actually get into the White House than the time we actually spent inside. Those things mentioned, I'm still glad we went. The decorations are very beautiful and the whole place smelled so good. It really just smelled like you think Christmas should smell! And obviously it's really neat to be inside. I leave you with the rest of the pictures and the details I remember :)

The White House Library

Vermeil Room

The China Room, decorated with Gingerbread Cookies

The East Room

The State Dining Room displayed the decorating theme this year, Winter Wonderland

The 300 pound Gingerbread White House 

A close-up of the trees in the Cross Hall and Grand Foyer

The icicles, snowflakes, and stars on the trees and trims represent a child's wonder

In front of The White House, we didn't even have to jump the fence!

Friday Love

This week was so busy! My little friends at school are keeping me on my toes, and I'm sure they will be making sure to do so next week too. I have definitely earned my weekend. We are taking a trip to the White House tomorrow! I'm really excited, and I can't wait to share more about it on my blog soon. Have a great weekend!

{ONE}

Soup Exchange Party. I read about {this} idea for a winter party on another blog earlier this week. I love this idea! I'm thinking about trying with my friends after the holidays. Anyone want to join me?

{TWO}

Marcel the Shell. This might be the most ridiculous thing I have seen, but also the cutest. I was laughing out loud on multiple occasions. I even watched the other two videos. I don't even like YouTube videos. Oh, Marcel.

{THREE}

Our Christmas Tree. I was feeling a little grinchy and had kinda decided to forgo a Christmas tree this year. I thought we wouldn't be home enough to enjoy it, and it's always such a process to bring all the stuff out and then to put it all away. I had a change of heart last weekend and decided we would forgo all other decor, but put up the tree. I suppose it was a good idea.

{FOUR}

Our Fireplace. The day we put up the tree, we also decided to turn on our fireplace. Best idea ever! We have been enjoying it ever since. I'm only slightly terrified about the bill I am going to receive as a result.

{FIVE}

The whole panel

History of the Holidays at the White House. Last night Matt and I went to the Archives to listen to a panel talk about decorating the White House for the holidays. It was the perfect event for us. It had history for Matt, and decorating and Tim Gunn for me. The other panelists included Lynda Johnson Robb (daughter of LBJ), Genevieve Gorder from HGTV, former White House Chief Usher Gary Walters, and Coleen Christian Burke, author of Christmas with the First Ladies. Each of the panelists had some experience being in the White House during the holidays. My favorite part was listening to the stories of the White House Usher and the author of the book. I really liked that even though the program was very historical the panel kept it funny and entertaining. It was a lot of fun!

Lynda Johnson Robb's stocking from LBJ's last year in office

Friday Love

Here we are. The last Friday before school officially starts. I have already been back to work, but it's not quite the same as real work until we have students. I have decided to do a little summary of the summer in this {Friday Love}...just kind of reviewing all the things that were so lovely about this summer. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend! I know I will savoring every last moment!

{ONE}

NO WORK! It's what made this summer possible. It's the first summer I have taken off since my first year as a full grown, employed adult. I don't think I will even go back. It's been so nice to have my days to myself. Even going to the grocery store is better when you can do it whenever you want to.

{TWO}

Vacations & Pool Time. This summer we traveled to the beach in Delaware. We went to Boston to celebrate Matt's sister's wedding. We played tourist in our own town a couple of times. We also made a very quick trip to Pittsburgh to visit my family and attend another wedding.

In the same category as vacations falls my visits to the pool. If you read my blog any time during any summer you know just how much I LOVE to go to the pool. I love the people watching, the reading time, and this summer, the friend time that the pool has brought me this year. I think I'm even starting to get Matt to like the pool. So sad it's closing this weekend.

{THREE}

Friends. A good portion of my friends have the summer off too! It's nice to have the option to have people to hang out with since poor Matt still has to work in the summer. I have enjoyed the extra bonding time. I wrote a couple of Fridays ago about 'real conversations' and remembering the value of face to face, or at least phone conversations with people instead of getting caught up in texting and social media. I mentioned I wanted to get better about these after having a few good, real conversations this summer. I am keeping this as a goal as we start the school year...relying less on social media to keep up, and making a conscious effort to talk less about work and school drama to focus more on having conversations that matter with the people who matter.

{FOUR}

Summer Food. I just love summer food. Nectarines, berries, summer squash, and so many more. Using the grill. It's all been so fab. I'm really going to miss it in a few weeks. We also lucked out with our tomato plants this year as well. We also had a bunch of peppers from my potted garden. I am still waiting to see what becomes of my brussel sprout plant. It is starting to look more promising.

{FIVE}

TV & Books. I have done so much reading this summer. At one point I was reading a book every day or two. It was awesome. My favorites of the summer include: The Book Theif, Secret Daughter, This is Where I Leave You, Whistling in the Dark, The Silver Star, Then Came You...so this list is starting to turn into all my books. I'm cutting myself off. I read a lot of books I loved...I'll leave it at that.

As for TV...I very slowly (on purpose as to not be distraught when I finished) watched season two of Orange is the New Black....I really don't know how I am going to wait until season three next summer. And we are still bingeing on Breaking Bad. I also, on occasion, tuned into the Price is Right just cause it was summer and you have to.

{That's my best condensing of the highlights of Summer 2014!}

Arlington National Cemetery & The Pentagon Memorial

Last weekend Matt and I decided to be tourists in our own area. I had been saying for a while that I wanted to visit Arlington National Cemetery. I have never visited in my six years of living here. I also wanted to visit the Pentagon Memorial, another place neither of us have been.

We left our house early on Saturday to run a quick errand with plans to head to our destinations for the day right after. When we left the house it was actually a little chilly to be wearing shorts and a tank top. By the time we got to the Pentagon I sure was glad I was wearing the shorts and tank top. It was hot, and more devastatingly it was humid. We circled the Pentagon quite a few times before we figured out that you can for sure park no where near the memorial. We found some parking on Army Navy Drive and then walked over.

The area of the Pentagon when the plane crashed

The Pentagon Memorial is the third in the trio of 9/11 memorials that Matt and I have visited. I think the most intriguing thing in each of the memorials is all the symbolism that goes into them. Everything that is part of the memorial has meaning, even the wall around it. Each person who died at the Pentagon has a bench with their name on the edge of it. If you can see their name when facing the sky they died in the plane that crashed. If you can see the name when looking at the Pentagon, they were working in the building that day. I'm really glad we visited. It was a nice memorial. I recommend it if you are in the area, just remember there is no parking at the Pentagon.

Arlington House and Edward Kennedy Gravesite

After we finished up at the Pentagon, we headed over to Arlington National Cemetery. They are actually kind of like neighbors. At this point it was incredibly hot and humid. We probably should have brought our water bottles out of the car and maybe had a snack. We stopped in the visitor's center and got a map and plotted out our course for the morning. Matt wanted to see President Taft's grave so we headed there first. We had to walk up a small hill to get there. After that we started heading back through the cemetery passing Lincoln's son's tomb. We then decided to go all the way up to the Arlington House at the top of the hill. It was a hike. I'm not kidding you. About halfway there I told Matt walking around Arlington National Cemetery was harder than the Pittsburgh Half Marathon. It might have been the heat, it might have been that I was hungry, or I might have been being dramatic, but I really was not loving the walk up to the Arlington House. 

Kennedy Family and the Eternal Flame

When you get to the Arlington house, though, it's a great view of Washington. You can see in the picture at the top of the post. Matt was having great conversations with the Park Rangers while I stood in front of their fan. I was really glad to be walking downhill to the Kennedy Family gravesite and the eternal flame after that.

Changing of the Guard

We finished our day in the cemetery by walking over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We also wanted to see the changing of the guard. We made it just in time to watch. This was my favorite part of the day. If you are going to visit Arlington I highly recommend you visit this area on the hour, or half hour, so you can watch. After watching the change and the guard for a little while we walked back to the car and headed into DC to finally have something to eat. I was starving!!!

Tomb of the Unknown

We had these plans to go to Grilled Cheese DC, or GCDC, a grilled cheese bar, but when we arrived looking like hot mess, hungry tourists they were closed. I almost cried. Very thankfully there were a plethora of other places to eat on the same street. We selected Taylor and had regular sandwiches. I had wanted to go to Taylor anyway. They opened one in our old neighborhood just as we moved out. It was a really good sandwich. Everything was really fresh and their bread was also really good!

We were very close to the White House when we were eating. We decided to walk past it on our way back to the car. It was an interesting walk. We saw a protest and the lady that lives in the tent across from the White House was also out and about talking to people. I had never seen her close up and was intrigued. Finally as we headed through the park, I think a guy though Matt was Abraham Lincoln. As we walked past he started yelling, "Abraham Lincoln, you nasty stinkin' dirty ho!" Good thing Matt likes Abe.