The Great Banquet

Driving down the road and saw this.  Had to stop and snap.  Those old cemeteries, I tell ya....just gorgeous.

My friend Dalliss who lives in Oakton, VA invited me to a non-denominational retreat at her church.  We arrived Thursday evening and stayed through Sunday evening.  She shared very little about what to expect. Just encouraged me to be open, authentic (hence the no make-up look) and to stay in the moment.  Now, for those of us who perhaps have control issues this can prove difficult.  But I went with the attitude that I would try my hardest to do all those thing.

 We stayed inside except for a couple of breaks where we could walk outside in the perfectly stunning weather.  We gave up watches, cell phones and anything else that would connect us with the outside world.  Each day consisted of prayer, worship, music, much laughter, wonderful talks & discussion and food! Oh my gosh, the food was just crazy.  Every time we walked into the dining area they had completely outdone themselves from the time before.

We were put in a group of six who we shared a table with for the talks, we shared a bedroom with 4 other women then we were encouraged to sit with people we didn't know for meals so eventually you spent time with almost everyone.

                                 We sang these before and after meals to the tune of Edelweiss.

 My sleeping area.  We each had a blow-up bed.  Dallis had made mine very cozy!

This is a small chapel we used but the church itself is huge having been remodeled.

Me, with my table mates...J.L., Erin, Lolita and Dawn

Good fun with the ladies!

Everyone's stuff getting ready to wrap up our awesome weekend.  We felt completely spoiled, completely loved and had a total blast. Think girl's camp with no dirt, but with all the fun and the spiritual renewal of a 72 hour testimony meeting.  Everyone left feeling completely enveloped in God's love as well as strengthened & renewed and supported by all these incredible women.  The peace of the weekend is something I always want to keep with me.

Out and About

 So they have these studios throughout DC where you pay a certain price and just show up.  You get all your supplies, 2 glasses of wine if you want, and after 2 hours you leave with your painting in hand.  Everyone does the same painting so you go their online calendar and see what painting they're doing what night so you know when to sign up.  A friend and I got a bargain on Groupon so we opted for the "DC At Night" painting at Merlot's Masterpiece.

 You get this mini version taped to your easel and then the teacher walks you through the process. Frankly, wasn't crazy about this teacher....she was WAY more interested in her own painting than in helping us but it was still fun.  We used acrylics, had 2 brushes and had as much freedom to personalize our work as we wanted.

 Stephanie and the teacher opted to eliminate the other memorial on the end.  Plus, we threw in a moon.

Stephanie's finished product.

  I wish I had all my acrylics from Utah with me because I would have done some more work on this when I got home.....but for first attempt, it was okay.

The U Metro station on the way home....a long line of colorful murals highlighting musicians.  I hear there are a lot of great live music venues in that area.

When Tom isn't working on the weekend (He has had gigs several weekends either for Coast Guard or for his regular job...ex: The Army Ten-Miler) we try to go take advantage of some of the wonderful things to see in the city.

 Tom thought he'd never been here before but as soon as we walked in the front door he remembered he had.  I have been a couple of times.....once with Taylor when he was still a little kid and frankly it's not really for the kidlets, then another time by myself (which is really how I prefer to see museums).  No photos are allowed inside but I did get one of this wall along the glass bridge.

 We were there several hours and still didn't read everything in every exhibition.  It frankly becomes overwhelming and very emotional to read about and see the atrocities.  It's a powerful reminder though to not take our freedoms for granted.

 Lastly, got a chance to see Shaylee and Nic's little Nixon in action last night via Skype.  He was very confused by the whole thing and I don't look familiar to him so he was doubly mystified!  He is such a little doll at 6 months....can't wait to see him and hold him in person!

A Few Days in the Life

So most of my days are spent working on the computer looking for jobs, but occasionally I escape for some Washington DC fun.  Here are some examples:

Tom's boss had a birthday so they put together a little surprise shindig for her at the National Press Club.  No photographs inside the club itself but I had already taken a couple before more than one person told us the policy.

The building itself was gorgeous and the club was a lot of dark wood, red leather and over stuffed chairs.  Exactly how I would have imagined it.  Low lighting and wall to wall tv sets turned to news stations as well as framed old newspaper front page headlines.

This is Ebeneezer's coffeehouse which is down the block from Union Station.  I go here Tuesday nights to meet upstairs with a small women's group from church where we discuss Sunday's sermon and how it can be applied to our daily lives.  We also have prayer for any struggles we might be having.

We walk across this park to get to the Metro.  This pix doesn't show it too well but there was a wide array of Fall color as the leaves finally started to change.

This credenza is in the lobby of our building.  Someone started leaving a few books for the taking and now the pile has started to grow.  They don't last very long.  Tom and I have found a few that we're reading.  I've decided that since I don't belong to a book group here I may just choose books from here or a similar lending table at the gym.

One night Tom got a hankering for dessert after dinner so I decided to be creative.  We have a new microwave (the apt. didn't have one) so I looked in my microwave cookbook for a good recipe.  I didn't want to make a full recipe so I did a quarter recipe of an apple crisp and put it in these ramekins.  However, not thinking.....I set the time for the full recipe and went off to put on pj's.  In a few minutes I hear Tom yelling and go in to find black smoke billowing out of the kitchen.  We opened the window to the deck but then Tom opened the front door that goes into the hallway.  By the time I got there to close it, the hall was filled with people reaching for the smoke alarm.  As I stood there in my pj's convincing them I had it under control, I realized it was the first time I had even seen some of these people.  I'm sure it was a lovely introduction.  And yes, the microwave STILL smells like smoke and the blackened apples & topping were like rocks!  Let me also say that our smoke alarm goes off with the tiniest bit of steam but black billowing smoke apparently does not warrant such a warning. The stupid thing didn't make a sound!

 I put a request on Facebook for someone with a stable home who might be willing to take in Floyd.  Within minutes a good friend offered to take him in while Nic continues to get his life together.  My friend Lori (who was in PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES with me in Layton) has him and he seems to be doing very well.  The poor thing was being shuttled from house to house (thanks to mom & dad, Craig, Eryn, Taylor & Danielle for taking turns) trying to work around everyone's schedules so being in a place where he can actually stay will be wonderful.  Lori and Dave have 2 boys and 2 other dogs and it all seems to be going well so we're keeping our fingers crossed!

 Tom and I got tickets to see WAR HORSE at The Kennedy Center.  It's one of the few plays that my theatre friends universally have loved so I found a good deal on GoldStar (like Groupon) and got us tickets.  Still pricey and very high in the second tier (hence my lovely shot of the ceiling decor) but very happy to get to see it.  The puppets are amazing, the music and direction wonderful too.  I was a little disappointed in the actor performances.  I'm thinking it was maybe because we were up so high and could barely see faces but some of the performances seemed flat.  Still, I'm glad we got to see it.  Amazing staging!

 The last couple of days I've been stranded inside the apartment while hurricane Sandy found her way through town.  Other than violent winds, in our area it was really nothing to write home about.  Tom's mom is inland of Atlantic City and lost power for a day and had a tree down but other than that his family was okay in NJ.  So sorry for all those with horrible damage.  We feel very lucky to have had power and a cozy home through the whole thing.  Tom had to work through most of it but fortunately his office is so close that it wasn't a trial to get there.  

October So Far

Have been a tad under the weather for a couple of weeks.  Cough, sore throat, flu symptoms.....you know, the usual Fall stuff.  We did go up to New Jersey over the long Columbus Day weekend to do some work around Tom's sister's place.  She still has branches down from the big storm so while she was out running Tom's mom to her hair appt. we worked in the yard.  It was nice to be on a tractor mower again.  I always loved cutting our grass at home.....lawn therapy, I call it.  So I did that while Tom cut the trees up and then we made piles of wood for her.

 Dennis brought his saw over so Tom could use it but of course we ended up making 3 different trips to Home Depot for new blades and other asst. trinkets.  Have come to the conclusion it's impossible to do home repairs tasks without at least 2 trips to hardware stores.

Tom's nephew Dennis, wife Karen and son Sean.

 We got to spend some time on Sunday with Tom's mom so it was nice to share a pizza and cannoli's around the kitchen table with family.

Tom has also been trying to set up wireless speakers for Marie as well so we've been shopping electronic stores.  Yawn.  If I was smart, I'd go to one of the other bazillion stores in the Pentagon City Mall but since I haven't had a real hankering for shopping, I just wandered around watching Tom speak in a language I don't understand nor care to.

 The Washington Nationals were in the play-offs so there has been a lot of excitement in the city (especially our neighborhood) around the Nats.  Unfortunately they lost to the Cardinals in the 5th game in a heartbreaking 9th inning so the fans have returned to their homes to devote their energies to the Redskins.

You have to drive out to Maryland or Virginia to find a big hardware store so we found this place near the Eastern Market. VERY crowded inside with very small aisles.  So much so I had to step outside while Tom got what he was looking for.  Thought I was going to have some sort of claustrophobic melt down.

Saturday night we had our first night of entertaining in our new place with some old friends.  Tom met them at the Metro then they came over for dinner and lots of good conversation.  We're lucky to have old friends in a new place.

Washington Nationals

Have discovered several websites like Groupon offering great prices on local events.  Took advantage of one to see the second to the last Nationals game of the regular season.  The $18 ticket price also included a $6 food credit so we got dinner at the park for $2!  Woo hoo!  Yes, I love a bargain.  The stadium is a 20 minute walk from our apartment so we didn't have to fight crowds on the metro OR take the car.  WE LOVE THAT!

Me and Thomas Jefferson

The President Mascots crack me up.  Especially when they have a foot race inside the stadium

Stadium Art

Our seats were right by the Phillies bullpen so people were coming down all night hoping to get tossed a ball.  Many did!

It rained on and off throughout the game but not enough to call it or make us miserable.  In fact, temperature was great.  Love the sights and sounds of a ballpark!

The game itself was a snoozer (Nats lost 2-0), however, the Braves lost their game to the Pirates, thus giving the Nationals their first NL East title since MLB came back to DC.  I've never seen a crowd so happy after a loss!  Fun times!