Alive

Wow. Thanks for all the love and support! I've got a reader full of great blogs again thanks to all your comments.

This weekend we headed out to western Maryland for a ski trip with a bunch of our friends. We had a great time. Make that an amazing time. I even went skiing and have a nasty bruise on my leg to prove it. I cooked all the meals for our "family dinners", we played lots of games, watched lots of football, and spent many hours in the hot tub. We also killed more cases of beer than I care to admit, but everyone needs to let loose now and then, right?? Don't worry, I'm detoxing this week.

The best part is that I didn't think about my miscarriage almost the entire trip. I was lying in bed Sunday afternoon after we returned from skiing and realized that I had not thought about miscarrying once. And in that moment when I did start thinking about it, I didn't cry. I just reflected on the fact that it happened, but I wasn't overwhelmed with sadness. As I continued thinking, I actually felt like I was on a trip to have fun, not that I was on a trip to help me forget about everything that has happened. That's an additional crappy thing about going through something traumatic...you are in a daze for a while. You do things and go through life because you have to, instead of actually living your life. I felt alive this weekend. That's progress.

Where do we go from here?

We are now in the stage of "where do we go from here?". I am not sure I can definitively answer that question, but we do have a few things planned that are helping us look to the future instead of dwell on the past. That doesn't mean we will ever forget what happened or the baby that we lost, just that we need to move forward and go on with our lives.

So what do we have to look forward to in the coming months?

Attending the Penn State vs. Indiana game at Fed Ex Field. We didn't attend Penn State, but I have a few friends that did and I went to a bunch of games back when I was in college. We are going with one of my friends that we haven't seen since our wedding! It will definitely be a fun time.

Hosting our parents for Thanksgiving in DC. This whole experience has really opened my eyes to the importance of family. I really miss my parents and can't wait to see them in a couple of weeks. We are lucky that our parents get along with each other pretty well despite their differences. We have spent two previous Thanksgivings together, and we always have a nice time.

Seeing Elf on Broadway at Christmas time. AJ surprised me with tickets the other night. I cried (tears of joy). Elf is my favorite Christmas movie of all time and I have wanted to see the show since the day I heard it was coming to Broadway. We are just going up for one night, but it will be a great holiday getaway.

Renting a house for a ski weekend with friends. My work friends and I just booked an awesome house in Western Maryland for a ski vacation over MLK weekend. And it is an amazing deal to boot! The house has a hot tub and a pool table and is only a few minutes away from the ski resort. It should be an epic weekend.

Vacationing in Grand Cayman with my parents. Instead of getting us a bunch of stuff we don't need for Christmas, my parents are paying for us to go with them to Grand Cayman over President's Day weekend. We haven't been on a "real" vacation since our honeymoon, so this will be a perfect escape before a stressful spring and summer (what with buying a house, moving, the bar, and all).

So where do we go from here? Apparently we go on a lot of trips and spend a lot of time with family and friends. But seriously though, being around those that love, support, and distract you really does help. And being in fun places doesn't hurt either. We will also be spending a lot of time enjoying our last few months in DC. After all of that maybe we will be ready to start trying for another baby. Until then, we are just a normal couple soaking up all the fun that we can!

Flowers Make Me Smile

This afternoon we walked over to the United States Botanic Garden. I was feeling a little grumpy and thought seeing some pretty flowers might help to cheer me up. Guess what....it worked! We spent some time in the Conservatory, the National Garden, and Bartholdi Park. Most of the flowers are in full bloom and looked gorgeous on this perfect spring day. Here are a few of my favorite shots!

Happy Spring! Hopefully the flowers bring a smile to your face as well!

Day Trip to VA

It's my last day of vacation. I'm sad to have to go back to work (which probably says something, right?), but I thoroughly enjoyed my time off, so I am feeling pretty happy.

We had a wonderful time on our day trip to Virginia on Friday. We stopped at two wineries, one tasting shop, an inn for lunch, and an ice cream parlor. The wineries were both picturesque and the town of Middleburg was so charming. The weather was perfect and the only low point of the day was driving back into the city. It took us over two hours and I actually hopped out of the car once we got into the city so that I could metro home. Yes, I left my husband to survive the gridlock on his own. I could tell we were headed for a fight and this helped save the day. I got home approximately 30 seconds before him, but I was relaxed again and he was happy that he did not have to deal with a side seat driver. But enough about the drive home. Let's look at some pictures!

The view at Crysalis Vineyards

Enjoying the sun! (Excuse my natural hair...didn't have time for a blow out)

Piedmont Vineyards

The oldest original inn, Red Fox Inn

Lunch on the back patio of the Inn

We didn't make it down to the cherry blossoms, but we got to see them from a far and we might try to venture down to the tidal basin later this week once the tourists have packed up and gone home. No offense, tourists. Speaking of tourists, for a funny comparison of us vs. them read this post.

ETA: Blogger is messing with the color of my pictures. So weird!

Amusement Parks Aren't Just for Kids

Yesterday my husband and I headed out to the 'burbs for a trip to Six Flags America. The other day the Six Flags twitter-er was offering tickets for 10 dollars, so I jumped on the opportunity and bought us two tickets.

We arrived right when the park opened at 10:30 am and had a blast riding all the roller coasters. The best part...there weren't ANY lines. We were literally hopping on one ride after another with very little time in between. In fact, AJ had to sit down and relax after a while because his stomach got a little queasy. Poor guy. I could have kept going all day!

My favorite ride was the Joker's Jinx, one of the many roller coasters in Gotham City. The train launches from the station and hits 60 mph in under 3 seconds. Talk about starting things off on the right foot! Because the lines were non-existent, we got to ride this coaster twice.


After breaking for lunch, we changed into our swimsuits and hit up the water park. We rode all the waterslides, took a brief dip in the wave pool, and then headed back to DC in the late afternoon.

Ahh, it was so fun pretending to be a kid again!

Weekend Recap

What a long, crazy weekend it has been. And I mean that in a good way! I'll try to break up my recap with some pictures. Unfortunately, they are all from my phone camera, so the quality isn't too great...

Friday night started with a drink on a restaurant patio with my darling husband. Our place of choice was a restaurant/bar that serves liquor in a glass with the mixer on the side. Dangerous!


We then split up so he could watch the hockey game with some friends and I could drink wine with PP&MS and Wearing Mascara on a rooftop in DC. After the game was over, AJ met up with us (as did WM's boyfriend) and we all headed out to a bar where we danced the night away. Literally. I haven't danced that much since our reception. I used to be a dancing queen, but hadn't been in the right place or under the right circumstances to break out my moves. Thank goodness for these girls! It was such a blast.

On Saturday we had brunch with WM & her boyfriend before heading home and napping for a few hours. Boy was it nice to get the needed rest! We were planning to hit up a public pool, but ended up not making it over there. Maybe another weekend? Saturday night was low key, we spent most of the night watching movies and clips on hulu. Neither of us can get enough of Justin Timberlake on SNL. Hilarious!

We started Sunday off with a trip to Starbucks (with Kona in tow) and sat outside to enjoy the sunshine. I am loving the $2 iced coffee with milk. In the last couple months I have started drinking coffee on the weekends. I still refuse to drink it on a daily basis, but I am finding that I don't mind the taste as much as I used to. With two splendas, it almost tastes like a flavored latte.

Later in the afternoon we headed out to Arlington to watch the hockey game with some of Alson's friends. The host lives in a high rise in Rosslyn and a small part of me now wants to move into a building like his. I was glad that we spent the entire time on the top floor, which had a huge party room, patio, and a pool. Unfortunately the weather started getting icky, so we didn't spend much time outside. Instead, we watched the game and ate lunch/dinner in the party room. Look at the view!

Today we headed to Georgetown for lunch at Old Glory, a barbecue place that offers sauces from five different regions, including our old stomping ground in North Carolina. Our food was yummy and I would definitely go back. The cornbread and honey butter they bring in the beginning was so delicious. I honestly would eat another basket of it if it was placed in front of me right now. Plus, they give you tootsie pops with the check. Sweet!

After lunch we headed down to the waterfront. It was so hot, so we quickly wandered back to our car and headed home. Luckily it was just in time, as the rain and a storm passed through shortly after we arrived home. The rest of the afternoon was spent reading (I finally finished The Associate), eating dinner (remind me to tell you all about spiedies one day), and snuggling with our puppy. Right now we are watching American Gangster, but it is a little too violent for my taste....hence blogging instead of focusing on the movie.

And one last picture to end the long weekend....


Who doesn't love snuggling with a sleeping puppy?!

Dance!

I wish something like this happened on a random day when I was headed to work....





I miss choreographed dancing SOOOO much!

Girl's Night

Greetings from North Carolina!

Why is that I couldn't wait to move away from here and now when I visit I want to move back? Granted, I don't want to live in the same town, or part of the state for that matter, but something about being out of the hustle and bustle of the city speaks to me. I am convinced I am one of those "grass is always greener" people when it comes to living situations. Perhaps that is why I have lived in 12497 places. I really hate the process of moving, but I get bored with apartments, cities, states, etc. pretty easily. I would have no problem picking up and moving as long as I have an awesome new apartment/house to live in (and of course a job with my husband and puppy tagging along too). Maybe after law school....

When I come down for my internship meeting I always stay with one of my good friends from grad school. She took an internship in the district where our university is, so it makes my trips a lot cheaper. Usually we go out to a restaurant, share some appetizers, and have a glass of wine the night before our meeting, but when I called her yesterday to let her know I was close, she told me that she and her roommate were hosting a "girl's night" at their apartment. Hmm...I was a little skeptical. I didn't know anyone and would be an outsider!

It ended up being a really nice night. My friend made a chicken casserole dish, one person brought rice, another brought salad, one brought brownies, and the rest of the girls brought wine. We spent most of the night talking about mindless stuff, which was perfect after a long day. They have been doing this for almost two months and rotate to a new person's house every week. Although once a week seems a little much in my busy life, I was thinking of starting something like this.

Who's in?

Inauguration Weekend Recap (9 days later)

With the double whammy of being unmotivated and sick, I never posted about the fun parts of inauguration weekend! Since I am likely the last person in the world to still be talking about it, I will make it brief.

Our friends from NC came up for the weekend (they are also the ones that came and ran the 10k) and we got to spend a bunch of time with them. We first met up with them on Sunday at the We Are One concert, which was a really awesome experience. We had a pretty decent view and could hear everything perfectly. Here are a few pics from the concert:

Our View

Couple Shots.... Freezing! But Having Fun!

The atmosphere at the concert was electric! Later that night we watched it again on HBO to kind of re-live the experience, and it was definitely way cooler when we were there. My favorite part of watching it on TV though, was seeing the "wave" of people jumping up when Garth Brooks was singing "Shout". The way the speakers worked, there was a minor, minor delay from the front of the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument, resulting in a wave of jumping instead of one fluid jump. Maybe you have to see it to understand. Anyway...

On Monday our friends came and spent the night at our place (they usually stay with family in VA, but didn't want to deal with the metro) and we had a nice night eating, drinking wine, and playing Wii. So much fun!

It was so great being part of history, even if we didn't actually witness the inauguration. Maybe someday we will witness more history when a woman is sworn into office!

So Excited!

A lot of metro DC residents are fleeing town this weekend to avoid the chaos of the inauguration (is that supposed to be capitalized?), but we are planning to stay and take in the historic event. We thought about renting out our place and taking a mini-vacaction, but we ultimately decided that the hassle would not be worth the thousand dollars we may (or may not) have gotten. Now that inauguration weekend is approaching I am getting really excited!

I am pumped for the We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial concert this Sunday. The list of performers is pretty sweet: Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher Raymond IV, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am, and Stevie Wonder. Should be fun!

We also are planning to wrangle the masses and head down to the Capitol on inauguration day because we have tickets for the swearing-in ceremony. After that we are planning to head home and watch the parade on TV. You can't witness it all, ya know? Later that evening our neighbors are having a BBBHB (Bye Bye Bush Hello Barak) party. It may not be a fancy inaugural ball, but I foresee lots of champagne!

What are your plans for the long weekend?

So Not Ready

One day during our holiday vacation in NY, Alson and I babysat my cousins (2 and 4 yrs old*). It was a last minute request from my aunt; my grandmother usually watches her daughters but grandma was sick and wouldn't be able to babysit. We didn't have anything planned so we agreed to watch them for the day.

I had a dentist appointment in the morning, so I brought the 2 year old along with me. This was quite the experience. Luckily my hygienist is my mom's cousin (gotta love small towns) so she was totally fine with it and entertained my cousin between cleaning, flossing, poking, prodding, etc. My cousin made out with stickers and two toothbrushes (she asked if she could have one for her sister too, haha) so I think she was happy.

After we picked up the 4 year old from preschool, Alson and I took them to Chuck E. Cheese. I hadn't been there since I was a child. Man, that place is overwhelming when you are an adult! First, we had to stand in line and order...which is no easy task when the kids are so excited and certainly don't want to just be standing around when the playroom holds so much excitement! Then we had to try and keep them at the table and have them eat their pizza. Again, the playroom holds too much excitement to sit still and eat. My pretty white jacket also mysteriously got some pizza smudges on it during this time. Note to self: children will dirty not only themselves, but you as well. I guess I should have known better than to wear a white coat to CEC. Alson and I then split the tokens and decided to each take a girl out into the playroom. Alson headed off with my 4 year old cousin while I chased around my 2 year old cousin. The games and rides were the perfect entertainment. I will note that the 2 (almost 3) year old was very insistent on doing EVERYTHING herself. This was hard to deal with because I obviously wanted her to be safe and help her when she needed it, but then I also learned quickly that intervening when she doesn't want help results in a tantrum. I narrowly avoided many of them that day. After all the tokens were gone we hit up the bathroom, which is much more complicated with two little girls, and headed out to the car. Did I mention their car seats? They are such a pain to maneuver! Plus, the shins of my jeans got all salty from leaning up against the car when trying to buckle them in. Apparently I'm destined to be dirty when I have kids.

This whole experience reminded us that we are certainly not ready for the responsibility that comes with little kids. Granted, we wouldn't be thrown into the lives of our own 2 and 4 year olds immediately, but still...I can't imagine the responsibility of having a newborn around either. I definitely have moments when I say I want to have a baby right now, but seriously...this was the best birth control ever.



*My aunt has another on the way. Yikes! That will make 17 grandchildren for that family.

We Did It!

I did it! I completed the Marine Corps Marathon 10k! And my husband did too!

ALSON XXXX (10K) | Bib #XXXX | DC - USA | Age 24 | M
START: 8:26:04 AM
Finish: 01:15:06
TIME Net: 01:15:06 Chip Time: 01:14:07 Pace: 12:05

JACKIE XXXX (10K) | Bib #XXXX | DC - USA | Age 23 | F
START: 8:26:03 AM
Finish: 01:15:10
TIME Net: 01:15:10 Chip Time: 01:14:11 Pace: 12:05

The best part...we ran the ENTIRE time. I was really afraid that I would have to walk after a while, especially since I have bronchitis and we didn't train hardcore the last 3 weeks, but we pushed through and didn't stop until the end. I started coughing pretty bad around mile 4, but a little water and my husband's sleeve for my runny nose (true love, I know) helped keep me going.

Our time wasn't bad, especially since I was convinced it would take us an hour and a half to two hours. Alson is a good sport too. He is almost a foot taller than me and has a ginormous stride, so he could have finished a lot faster, but chose to run with me instead. I really appreciate that! Next time I hope to be a little faster, but I am okay with baby steps for the next few months.

I almost tossed my cookies (actually, a banana) at the end of the race. There is a really steep hill right at the finish line and it almost did me in, but nothing came up so I was okay (sorry, TMI). It was still a little embarrassing though, so I hope to not experience that next time!

Anyway, I am so proud that we completed a race. I have been wanting to run something, anything, for almost 2 years. Now I can cross that off my list!

Next up...Jingle All the Way 10k on Dec. 14th. Any other DC runners planning to run this race? I know Heidi is planning to run. It should be fun!

Beach Bound

Our trip to the mountains was cancelled, but don't fret...we are off to the beach instead!

The man who was going to rent the cabin to us called yesterday to say their septic system broke. Yuck! Needless to say, that trip was cancelled. We started researching for a new mini-vacation destination because we desperately need a break from the city. Luckily there was a cancellation at a place in Rehoboth and a beach house was available for tonight and Saturday. We jumped on the opening!

Can't wait for our little getaway!

Mountain Momma

This weekend we are venturing out to West Virginia for a quick getaway with our neighbors. I can't wait for a little R & R, especially after a stressful week at work for me and a midterm for Alson. We deserve a break from the city!

Only two more work days (Superintendent's Day Friday, yay!) until this:

A Walk? With Dogs? By Monuments? For a Good Cause? I'm In!

On Sunday our family will be partaking in the Humane Society Walk for the Animals. Kona can't wait!


If you are in DC and have a dog, you should join us! It is $25 to enter, and all proceeds benefit the Washington Humane Society and the Humane Society of the United States. We did a walk for the Humane Society for Eastern Carolina back in May, as photo journaled here, and it was so fun!

Here are the details if you would like to take part:

Date:	Sunday, October 5, 2008
Time:	Check-in starts at 10 am; pre-walk activities begin at 11 am. The walk begins at noon
Location:	Constitution Gardens, next to the World War II Memorial
Street:	Constitution Ave. and 17th St. NW
City/Town:	Washington, DC

For more information click here.

We are planning to walk down in the morning, snag a spot on the mall, then relax and eat lunch before the walk. Kona will be in doggy heaven!

Hodgepodge

I have so many things I want to share about the past few days that I think I will write one big hodgepodge post.

• At work on Thursday another intern and I ended up having a two hour lunch with a few of the second year school psychologists. We didn't intend to sit around chatting for that long, but once we started we couldn't be stopped. It was great! I really felt like part of the staff instead of the new person who only gets asked your name, where you are from, and where you went to school. We really got to know each other. We ended up talking about a lot of work relevant stuff so we didn't feel too bad about our lack of "working". Plus, since kids don't come to school until tomorrow, we didn't have much to do last week. Anyway, our conversation made me feel a lot better about my job, especially things regarding the district I work in and the kids that we serve. I admit I was jaded by the end of my graduate coursework and was not really looking forward to internship. The girls gave me hope and helped re-spark my interest in working with disadvantaged children.

• My BFF Michelle came into town on Thursday night. We will always be the sisters we never had (we both have brothers named Matt) and we just connect in a way that is hard for people to understand. It's like we have our own little world that we live in when we are together. It's great! We first met when we cheered in a church league together way back in middle school. We were in different school districts despite sharing a zipcode (in NY districts are by town, not county) so we kind of lost touch during high school. We then reconnected during college when we coached that same cheer team we were once a part of. Some of the girls on our team and a close friend of mine from high school then convinced us to join our college cheer team together. Oh, and we were roommates in college. So needless to say, we've been through a lot. Here is a picture of us from my wedding day.
  
  On Friday we walked to the White House, the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and along the Tidal Basin so Michelle could get the requisite tourist pictures. Look for a more extensive recap (with pictures) on her blog in the next few days (after she gets all settled in her new place in Charlotte!). We then stumbled upon the Holocaust Museum. Since she was a history major in college and will be teaching social studies to high schoolers someday, we decided to go in. I had heard that the experience is very moving and sometimes makes museum goers uncomfortable, so I was a little apprehensive. I am ashamed to say that I was not well versed in the Holocaust before my visit to the museum (I maybe learned about it for like a week in history class back in high school), so I didn't really know what to expect. Let me tell you, it was informative, shocking, moving, and disturbing and you should definitely check it out if you are in the area. Just the experience of being in the museum will have an effect on you. The permanent exhibit requires tickets, which are free and seemed to be readily available. We arrived at the ticket counter and were given tickets for right then. If you do have a wait there are special exhibits that you can visit in the meantime. I have become a little obsessed with reading more about the Holocaust, so if you want a refresher, you can learn more here. Onto happier topics...
  
  
• On Friday night we all watched Elf. This is most definitely one of my favorite movies, and it still gets me laughing so hard that I cry. Michelle and I probably watched Elf once a month back when we were in college, it was always our go to movie when we needed cheering up or recovery from a rough night out. I caught the last half of it last month when it was on TNT for Christmas in July, but before that I hadn't watched it since last Christmas. Just the other day Alson commented on how we hadn't watched it in a while, so we made sure to incorporate it into our weekend. Funny Elf story...one day a while back I texted Alson an Elf quote, so he texted me back a different Elf quote....and we went back and forth for probably a good hour. Good thing we have unlimited texts and a lot of free time :)
  
  
• Last night Alson and I went on our first date as a married couple. We had dinner at JoJo Restaurant and Bar on U St. and it was excellent. We first went to JoJo's the weekend we moved in and loved it then as well. My mom's name is Jo and she picked up JoJo as a nickname when some of my cousins called her that back when we were little. Like you probably realized from these three posts, I have lots of little cousins so the nickname is still used by all 20 something of them...even the older ones. We thought it was funny that there was a restaurant called JoJo's, especially since it is so close to our apartment, so we had to take my mom there (she helped us move in). From the outside JoJo's looks a little like a dive, but the inside is immaculately decorated and has an amazing atmosphere. It is perfect for a date or an intimate group dinner. The food is delicious (the online menu is not up to date or as big as the actual menu, so don't get discouraged); my favorite dishes are the caprese appetizer and the lobster ravioli. The prices aren't too bad, I'd say most entrees are probably $12-18. Check it out...and tell us if you want some company because we will definitely go back!
  
  
• As a result of all the TV watching we have been doing during the Olympics, I am quite the commercial critic. Have you seen that Harris Teeter commercial that introduces the cruise giveaway? It makes me want to boycott HT until they take it off the air. So stupid and annoying. I also wanted to complain about the Secret Flawless commercial, but luckily, notsojenny discussed it so I don't have to. When What Women Want (another favorite movie of mine) came out a while back, I wanted to be Helen Hunt and have her job as Creative Director at an advertising firm. Obviously I didn't actual go that career route, but I still think I could have done a better job than the people at HT and Secret. Readyyy... better advertising pronto.
  
  
• Yesterday we headed to Northern Virginia for Long John Silvers and the dog park. Yes, I admit that I love LJS. Sometimes I need greasy fish and chips in my life...I blame it on my Irish heritage. Luckily it is in Falls Church, so the distance will keep me from eating it often. The real reason we went to NoVa was to take Kona to a dog park, LJS was just an added bonus. She had a ball running around with the other dogs and playing with her daddy. She was so dirty by the time we left. The girl loooves to roll around in the dirt. But, at least she was happy and is still tired and thus more well-behaved! Needless to say, she needed a bath when we got home.
  
  
• Last night I got a Facebook message from one of my friends I worked with at camp saying that her and her husband (also a friend of mine from camp....they met at camp and got married two summers ago) are coming to DC to run the Marine Corp 10k at the end of October and were hoping to get together while they were here. After hearing about them, Britni, Heidi, Lexi, Melanie, our neighbors, and pretty much every other person in the world running some kind of race or taking up a running regiment, I felt like the laziest person ever. Alson and I were running pretty regularly before the wedding and our move, but then stopped once we got so busy this summer. Well my friends, I registered us for the 10k today and we start training tomorrow. I am so thankful to everyone who helped motivate me through their blogs, and especially my friends for that final push to get me off my butt and on the road (well, I suppose it would be the sidewalk here in DC).
  
  
• I can't believe I haven't posted about the summers I spent working at camp. They were some of the best experiences of my life and it has really shaped who I am today. I will definitely try to get on it in the next few weeks.
  
  
• I am scared to see what kind of searches will bring people to my blog as a result of this post. Oh wait, I still don't fully understand how to work Google Analytics so I will probably never know ;)
  

Olympic Know It All

I've already had three outbursts, and the US Women's Gymnastic team is only through the floor exercise. I can't handle this kind of craziness! But, I guess that is what the Olympics are all about. I can't even describe how much I love the Olympics. They are so exciting!

Funny Story That May Describe My Olympic Obsession:

When I was a senior in college, I worked as a research assistant in the Marriage and Family Studies Lab at Binghamton, which happened to have its clinic right next door to the Anxiety Lab. One day as I was entering data (I actually don't remember what exactly I was doing, but I was probably entering data) one of the graduate students stopped by our lab to see if she could "borrow me" for a minute. Since I was the only person in the lab I obliged, and accompanied her to a small conference room that contained a podium, a chair about 4 feet in front of the podium, and a tripod with a video camera placed behind the chair. The graduate student told me she was about to start her dissertation study and needed a few people to serve as "guinea pigs", so she could come up with a categorization system for different kinds of anxious behaviors.

Sounds awesome, count me in! (Sarcasm)

If you have ever read my blog, especially a lot of the posts leading up to the wedding, I am sure you know that I have some of my own anxiety issues. Needless to say, I immediately started sweating and I could feel my face turning a deep shade of red.

Next she explained what I had to do: "I am going to sit in this chair while you give a speech about a current event. I will videotape you. You will need to talk for 5 minutes."

FIVE MINUTES?!? That is such a long time! Remember that I am unprepared and was asked to think of a topic about 30 seconds before "my presentation" began. I racked my brain for something that I was at least a little well versed in when it hit me.....

In the two weeks before this guinea pig experiment, the 2006 Winter Olympics took place. Of course, I watched almost every event with great intensity and dedication. In an instant, I would have to think of every event I watched, all the controversies, triumphs, and come from behind winners, and probably even the boring stuff (like describing the sport of curling) to fill up the 5 minutes.

I don't remember my entire speech, but I do recall discussing:

• Where the Olympics took place
  
• The women snowboarder who showboated at the end of a run, fell, and ended up getting silver instead of gold
• Michelle Kwan's withdrawal from the figure skating competition
• Emily Hughes replacing Michelle Kwan and her sister's gold at the 2002 Olympics
  
• Curling
  
• Bode Miller's drinking, and lack of winning
• Sasha Cohen falling and the Japanese lady winning instead
  
• Random Olympic related thoughts that popped in my head at that moment
  

Somehow I pulled it off. Granted, it was quite terrifying just standing up there talking while she stared at me with no kind of reaction or conversation, but once I got in my Olympic groove, there was no stopping me. I just kept jabbing away about countless 2006 Olympic related stories.

Once I finished and the graduate student and I were walking back to our labs, she thanked me endlessly, telling me how it is supposed to provoke anxiety and I did really great considering the circumstances. As we parted ways she said something like "I can't believe how much you know about the Olympics, you must have watched every event!".

Why yes, mean graduate student, I did.

A Trip to the Zoo

Yesterday Alson and I went to the National Zoo.

I am not a big zoo fan*, but Alson really wanted to go, so I sucked it up and joined him. Although we were hit with two brief thunderstorms, it was overall an enjoyable day. I was happy because we got some pretty pictures of ourselves with zoo backdrops.



The zoo has some neat exhibits and all your standard "zoo animals". We were there from like 11 until 2:30, which isn't really the best time because most animals were napping and therefore looked like this.

This was disappointing, especially since one of the major draws of this zoo are the pandas. Alson said the pandas sleep up to 17 hours a day. Boo!

Luckily, the elephants were out and about. I loved this elephant because he was so cute playing with this ball.
Alson was really excited to see the komodo dragon. It was huuuuuge and nasty. Reptiles scare me.

Also of note: Visiting the zoo is a sneaky way to get a good workout. It is on a hill, which you walk down to see all the exhibits, and back up to exit. We did not realize, however, that you had to walk back up to get out because we didn't buy the map. So, we exited at the bottom of the zoo where people who drove could exit, ended up taking a hike through Rock Creek Park, realized we didn't know where we were going, and eventually found ourselves at another exit of the zoo. And we were of course still at the bottom. We then walked back up the hill to the place where we initially entered, making our walking total probably somewhere in the 5 mile range. Needless to say, my calves are quite sore today.

*When I was maybe 7 or 8 my family went to the National Zoo during a trip to visit relatives in the DC area. When we arrived at the zoo there were protesters out front of the entrance. Now, as an adult I understand that some people have problems with captivity and the premise of animal cruelty, but as a child, I was seriously scarred by the way were acting. At the time, I felt really guilty for going to the zoo and have been lukewarm about going to them ever since.

Document This

When we were living in NC, we subscribed to Netflix as a way to get exposed to the "outside world" (poor NC, I make it sound a lot worse than it really is). One of our most commonly queued genres were documentaries. This morning as I was flipping through the channels at my parents house, I saw that An Inconvenient Truth was on, and it reminded me how much I miss watching films like that. When we return to DC after this mini-vacation, I think I am going to re-subscribe to Netflix (or perhaps the Blockbuster one) so I can rent away.

We really enjoy watching documentaries...even if we don't necessarily agree with the filmmaker's POV or agenda. I think it is good to hear multiple sides of a story and we both enjoy being informed. I always learn something new and like being exposed to domains I am not familiar with. Anyone else like them, or are we the weird couple?

Some that were informative and easy to watch:
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
The End of Suburbia (I think this film influenced us to move into DC and not VA or MD suburbs)
Who Killed the Electric Car?
No End in Sight
A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash
Super Size Me (Watch this if you want to go on a diet, it will motivate you)
F**K
Wordplay


Some I didn't like (either the topic or style wasn't interesting to me):
Helvetica
The Secret
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price

And a few I am looking forward to watching:
24 Hours on Craigslist
Maxed Out
Devil's Playground

Anyone have a recommendation? Or an opinion on any of these films?

Adventures in Eating

This weekend I ventured outside my comfort zone and ate at Lalibela, an Ethiopian restaurant.

Let me tell you....this was a biiiiiig deal. Until about 3 years ago, I only ate fruits and (raw) veggies, chicken, pasta (usually without sauce), and sometimes a steak if my grandpa thought I was looking too thin. I am very picky, and once I find something I like I usually don't try new dishes. After meeting Alson and later moving away from my hometown I started getting a little more adventurous (by that I mean eating more like an adult), but still nothing very exotic.

Now that we live in DC and are surrounded by ethnic restaurants, we felt it was necessary to start developing my palate. Alson loves spicy foods so I now enjoy food with a little heat, and also recently ventured into the world of Thai food thanks to Raku and The Regent. At both places I have only tried the Pad Thai (refer back to the last paragraph and the "picky" sentence....maybe someday I can grow out of that too), but I liked them both very much. The one at Raku even had tofu in it, albeit fried, but I thought it was quite yummy!

Anyway, back to Ethiopian and how I came to eat spongy bread and lamb, among other things....

Our neighbors invited us to have dinner with them and their friends who were visiting from London. Their one friend used to live in DC and frequented Ethiopian restaurants. Apparently there is not good Ethiopian cuisine in London, so on their list of things to do was eat Ethiopian food. I was pretty scared when they were describing the communal nature of the dishes and the use of your hands to eat the food, as well as the prominence of lentils and beans (are lentils beans?) in all dishes. Despite my initial queasiness, I decided to suck it up and accompany my husband (!) and our new friends to dinner.

I must say it was quite the experience! The spongy bread is like no carb I have ever tasted before, but it worked with the different entrees we ordered. Speaking of the entrees, they all came on one huge platter for everyone, and you just kind of ate what you liked. Ripping off the bread and using it as a utensil was difficult at first, but eventually I got the hang of it and was eating like a pro. I personally liked the chicken (surprise right? in my defense, it was quite spicy), the lamb, spicy beef, split yellow peas, and (dun dun dun) the lentils. There was a mild beef, but I thought it kind of tasted like cotton candy, and there also was curried cabbage and carrots, but I didn't try that.* A girl can only be so adventurous in one night!

Picture from www.cooltownstudios.com

Overall, I would say the meal was a success....not to mention fun!

*I did promise Alson that I would try Indian food in the near future, so if anyone has any recommendations let me know!