Celebrating Six Years with a Win! #WordlessWednesday

Can you believe that it's been six years since we got married?! I have a hard time trying to find where all of the time went... let alone the Caps game photos from 2005-2007 that I wanted to include!

We try to celebrate our anniversary at a Caps game every year... the home opener is always within a week of the date (October 8th) and this was the first time it fell on our actual anniversary!

Doodle had a great time with Nancy and Pop Pop while we dined at Asia Nine and spent the rest of the evening rocking the red!

Happy Anniversary, Sweetie!

I know that this may be a slightly nontraditional way to spend a wedding anniversary, but it works for us... what do you do to celebrate?!

It's a Maryland Thing... PSF/GMYBS

I seriously don't get the appeal of breaking apart a crustacean into a million pieces to get a few ounces of crab meat.

Maybe it's because I'm not a native Marylander... Maybe it's because I'm a lazy eater... Maybe it's because the smell of vinegar makes me gag and the newspaper-covered tables are usually soaked in it... Maybe because it just looks gross... Maybe it's all of the above!

I do know; however, that Doodle proved that she's a true Marylander on Saturday when she walked up to her Daddy for some Princess Juice and ended up staying and eating crabs with him!

P.s. Happy 1/2 Birthday, Haden! I can't believe we've not met yet... I'm definitely trying to remedy that!

P.p.s. Jill- Get the maid. ;)

Happy Birthday to the Hubby!

Wishing my dearest love a very happy 29th birthday...

The first time we ever celebrated his birthday, I was living in Madrid and took him to a Champion's League Real Madrid game.  Can that really have been seven years ago?

I must admit that while there have been bigger and flashier years of birthday celebrations (ie, front row Redskins tickets in 2006), I'm so very excited to make him dinner and celebrate at home tonight.  We've had a lot of nights out in a row, so I think he'll be happy with staying in.  After all, if you go too big for 29, what would you do for 30?! ;) Just kidding.... I gave Joe tickets to Kanye/Jay-Z in November, so we'll still be celebrating then!

Here are a few photos from swimming with the kids last night at the Ranch...

How can you not love this guy?! 

He's the best.

              

Happy Birthday, Darling.  Doodle and I love you very much.

Meeting the Mouse...

Last week was spent roaming around all of the Parks at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL!  We had a big group of people (our family, Grandma Nancy & Grandpa Joe, the Sebolds, and Drew & Katie!), so it took quite a bit of planning for everyone to be able to do activities, but it all worked out pretty well.

I had made two character meal reservations before we went-- a girls lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table (in her Castle... more on that later!) and a big group dinner at Chef Mickey's with the Big Five (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto).  Chef Mickey's was the last day in the parks and as the day went on, everyone started to bail on us... under most circumstances this would really upset me (I'm a planner!), but after spending the whole week as a big group, I just let it go... the bottom line is that I was truly and insanely excited for this dinner and realized that I didn't want people attending just "to go" and not to join in the fun and be "into it" with us.  It ended up just being our little family-- Joe, D, and I -- and it was perfect!  D got to meet the characters (the rock stars of her little world!) and we just smiled and giggled as we watched her sing, dance, eat ice cream, and enjoy every moment of the experience.  It was definitely one of those experiences that you never wanted to end!

I have a whole bunch of photos on facebook, but here are a few video clips from dinner...

Dagny meeting Donald...

Dagny seeing Mickey for the 1st time...

Dagny meeting Mickey (I had to turn off video so I could take a photo!)...

Does it get better than this?!  I don't think so!

I don't know if I've been told...

Someone here is getting old!

Bad news is we sing off key...

Good news is we sing for free!

Happy Birthday to you!

Yep, you guessed it... today is Joe's birthday!  Instead of singing the Mountainside birthday song to him in person (which would result in dogs howling at me from afar when they hear my awful voice!), I kindly blogged it to him! ;)

My big birthday present to Joe was a pair of tickets to the Manchester City FC vs Inter Milan FC match in Baltimore and a nice dinner at the Inner Harbor!  We had a nice evening walking around Baltimore and taking in some live soccer!

 

Since this all happened a month ago, Dagny and I also picked up a few nifty gifties and gave them to the Birthday Boy when he decided to celebrate his day two days early (Note: We ALWAYS do this -- Not once have we waited until Christmas Day for gift exchanges and only a few times have we given gifts on our actual birthdays.  It's just how we do it at our house... until Dagny gets older at least!)!  We've already dug into the obligatory Whole Foods Fruit Cake and look forward to dinner with his family tonight at Bugaboo!

I certainly hope my schweetums -- the best hubby ever -- has a fabulous birthday! ;) :)

A Historical Bench

This bench has history. In addition to sitting along the walkway of the ellipse, near the corner of 14th St & Constitution Ave, and a few steps away from the National Mall, this bench etched it's place in my memory exactly five years, two months, and twenty two days ago.

As Joe and I walked past this bench on that day, he reached into his pocket and handed me a book. It was this small red leather journal that I soon learned had a very important story inside. The story was ours and this version ended with a "..." - clearly our story had just begun.

By the time I got to that last page, Joe and I were standing in the middle of the ellipse - directly between the White House and the Washington Monument. I gasped as he stopped and dropped to one knee with a beautiful ring in his hands. I squeaked out a meek "Yeah" when he asked me to be his wife and tried to control those happy tears that just sneak up on you on such an occasion!

Not knowing where to go or what to do next, we turned around and retraced our steps to this very bench. We sat down and happily dialed number after number into our cell phones - telling everyone the good news! I remember my Grandmom and Grandpa's "Good-o! We're so happy for you!" and my Mom's gushing about how hard it was to keep the secret from me! I remember Amy-Beth's tears of happiness as we chatted and our friend's excitement over the now upcoming nuptials. In fact, the only family member that didn't get the news via a phone call from this bench was Nancy as she was working at the hospital and unreachable until we got home.

Five years, two months, and nineteen days later I participated in a photo walk in DC with iheartfaces.com. I joined Lolli and a fabulous group of women down by the World War II Memorial and walked all over the mall snapping photos of places that I often walk or drive by. We were heading to the restaurant after the walk that we walked through the ellipse and stopped to take a few photos of Chez Obama (and joked about the snipers' scopes pointed at us as our lenses were pointed at him)! I turned around, realizing where we were, and easily spotted this bench in the distance. I doubt the couple sitting there at that moment knew how magical that place could be, but maybe they have a bench of their own somewhere out there.

The quality of the photo is iffy at best, but the memories it brought back were priceless.

Have lens, will shoot!

My Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens came in the mail on Saturday! My lens ended up coming from Adorama via Amazon and they shipped it the same day as I ordered! Clearly, I was super excited to play with my new toy, so I quickly got it on my camera body and instantly loved how light it is!

Daggers happened to be attempting to crawl on the floor at the time...

Can we say "Yay!!?!" And yes, I have a little goober on my hands- her facial expressions are so hilarious to me and I just love when I'm able to capture them with a photo!

Sunday was my very first Mother's Day and my little family did not disappoint... Joe and I have had a bunch of discussions about gift-giving holidays and came to the conclusion that Mother's and Father's Day didn't need to be one of the ones that we break the bank for! So, until our kids are old enough to make/buy us their own presents, we're trying to keep them relatively low cost, kid-focused, and fun!

Next week I'll be blogging about the whole day, but here's a little sneak peek at my 1st Mother's Day activities...

Upside Down... Bouncing off the Ceiling!

To say that I'm incredibly excited about this blog entry just may be the understatement of the century...
Words cannot convey how psyched I am for the "big reveal" of Baby Girl's room!

To say that I did most of it would be the biggest lie of the century...
~Joe did the painting, molding, heavy lifting, drilling, and furniture assembly!
~Mom and Dad got us the fabulous crib that I just cannot wait to get Baby Girl into!
~Nancy and Joe gave us the gift cards that we used to buy the fabric and dresser!
~Grandmom and Grampa gave us the most comfortable (and beautiful!) glider and ottoman that I've ever sat in!
~Leslie worked her insane magic with a sewing machine and created the most beautiful bedding, diaper stacker, window treatment, quilt, and blanket that I have ever set eyes on! I don't know how she can take yards of folded-up fabric and transform it into all of this... seriously, I'm in complete awe of my amazingly talented Aunt who did all of this in a matter of weeks (in addition to taking care of her four kids)! I could go on for days about how grateful I am for Leslie and everything she does for me... needless to say, she's amazing!
~And I... umm... well... picked out a Lilly print and ordered it... ran to Lowe's and Home Depot a bunch of times to match paint... held the level while Joe screwed in the window treatment... tied some bows... I think you get the point! ;) I'm so blessed with a fabulous husband and family who have let me sit back and make the executive decisions while they do all of the work! I have; however, taken care of the greatest daughter/niece/granddaughter/great-granddaughter-to-be and will soon bring her into this world! ;) That's gotta count for something, right?! Okay, you got me- I haven't exactly fulfilled my end of the bargain... yet!

And, without further ado...

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BUS DRIVER! MOVE THAT BUS!!
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Before I get into highlighting my favorite details, here are two "Before and After" shots of the room:

How freaking awesome is this room!? Okay, I really don't expect anyone to love it as much as I do, but I'm also not going to tone-down my excitement! It's all come out so much better than I even imagined and we haven't even decided on permanent lighting (the heinous black floor lamp is on it's way out the door!) or wall decor!

Now, here are some of my favorite touches:

The details of the bumpers and the heartbeat bear snuggling up in a yummy blanket...

Check out this window treatment and curtains...

The diaper stacker...


The super-soft and yummy quilt...

All of the bows...
And finally, Charlene, my Granny's doll, loving her new digs (and Uggs!)...

I still can't get over the fact that this room exists in my house... the house that (aside from the Caps Cave) the previous owners come back to visit and legitimately say "Wow, you haven't changed a thing!" While I can't wait for Baby Girl to get here and move into her new digs, I must admit that I'm loving and enjoying this room already!

And again, I owe the hugest and most sincere THANK YOU to everyone... especially Joe and Leslie... for making my girly dream a reality! :)

Insert Foot into Ribcage...

Yes, my friends... this is as good as an ultrasound photo gets when you're 34 weeks pregnant with a chunker inside of you! You're looking at her foot, pressing flat against the fundus (Childbirth class vocab for top of the uterus... how do you like them apples?!) and putting some wonderfully comfortable (not!) pressure on my ribcage! For those of you who don't look at these everyday, her leg is coming up the middle (very faintly) and it goes into her foot (foot is upside down... just like she is) with her heel on the left and toes on the right.

Here are a few stats from yesterday's ultrasound:
~Gestational Age: 34 weeks
~Weight: 4lbs 6oz
~Laurel's Size/Weight Translation: Cantaloupe
~Position: Head down, facing my spine, ready to rock
~Diving Position Translation: Not a solid tuck, but thankfully not a pike... she's pretty cramped/balled up with her knees tucked in. Her tush protrudes out near my belly button quite nicely and I like to mess with her by pushing her tush back in and making her squirm! ;)
~Hair: Ultrasound tech claimed to see a few hair follicles... I'll believe it when I see it (both Joe and I were bald (!) babies)!
~Padding: We've got baby fat! This is one of Joe's few requests/hopes... no skinny babies, he wants a chunker! Based on seeing some fat rolls on the ultrasound, I think I'll be able to deliver on that wish! ;)

Everything is looking as if we're right on time, but don't tell that to my coworkers who like to inform me everyday that she'll come early b/c she's out of room... and b/c they know I'm such a planner and it would drive me crazy for her to not be on schedule!

Joe and I pulled the car seat out of the box last night, but I think I'm going to wait to install it until after the Jones kids come and go next week. We also put together the swing... which is freaking adorable. Photos to come...

Nursery and house are coming along slowly, but we've had to put priority on educational efforts over the last few weeks. We completed the childbirth class last Saturday and were both a little out of our element when there wasn't a formal test at the end... then again, I think the "practical exam" that corresponds with the course will be more than enough test for us to handle. ;)

We also sat through a breastfeeding class on Sunday... talk about boring! Given my RA, the whole "what will she eat?" issue is going to be up for grabs until the time comes... basically, if I flare up, it's good ole formula for our little darling. We decided to take the class just in case (and it was free) and probably could have done without... the woman spent an hour talking about how to make a "nipple sandwich" (with your hands... yummy! ;)) and where to place the sandwich...
"You place the sandwich between the baby's chin and nose."
Hmm, I'm not a rocket scientist, but couldn't you just say "In her mouth!?" Yes, it was a painfully slow and boring morning! All-in-all, we only wasted a few hours and got a manual/book to keep with us at home!

Other than classes, Joe's been working his tail off and I've been coming into work to count down the days until baby gets here... I must admit that it's very hard to focus when your belly is shifting every 3 minutes and everyone is asking "how much longer" every time they see me! Thus, I remind you all...

Six more weeks!!

Don't wanna be an American Idiot...

...but somehow that's probably unavoidable! ;) I kid, I kid... I'm also still humming every Green Day song that pops into my head (humming because we all know that I'm terrible at remembering actual lyrics!)!

Rocking out at the Green Day Concert at 33 Weeks!

Needless to say, we had a freakin' blast at the Green Day concert! I don't know if it was necessarily Joe's cup of tea, but I had a hard time containing my excitement!

We had a great dinner at Oyamel, a Mexican restaurant I've been dying to take Joe to, and Joe even ate their famous cricket taco! Ack! Apparently it wasn't that bad... he said it tasted something like mesquite popcorn (yet it still looked like a taco with a huge pile of crickets)! I had my favorite skirt steak and felt totally nourished and ready to get to the concert.

Walking through a punk concert 8 months pregnant definitely yielded some interesting looks... they ranged all the way from "Rock On Preggo Lady" to people stoping and staring while thinking "You're already a terrible mother if you're bringing your baby to a punk concert in utero!" It didn't really seem to phase women, but I got a ton of odd/dirty/appalled looks from men. Go figure. Anyway...

Luckily, for Baby Girl, I didn't get tickets early enough so we were stuck sitting all the way up in the 400s at Verizon Center... while I would have much rather preferred to be down in the crowd at the stage, it was probably safer that I stayed away from the mosh pit.

Green Day, well... Bottom line: they're just amazing! I was in total heaven for the 3 hours that they were on stage and only sat down when I totally had to. I think even Joe was impressed with the show they put on!

As for Baby Girl... I don't presume to know too much of her preferences while in utero, but let's just say that I'm 99% sure that we have a little punk rocker on our hands! ;) She was bouncing and kicking throughout the whole time. I'm pretty sure they were happy kicks as none were really aimed at my bladder or ribs with the message "get me outta here." She just rolled around and squirmed to the beat!

Baby Steps: All Dresser-ed Up!

After sitting in the living room for a few weeks while we painted the nursery, we finally put the dresser together on Sunday. Again, by "we" I mean "Joe" put together the dresser! The directions were TERRIBLE (especially as they weren't really directions but three or four diagrams on a piece of paper), but he managed to get it all together and looking great!

I tried to take an "unboxing" photo, but caught Joe mid-sentence by accident... I'm pretty sure he was telling me to put down the camera and help out!


Despite the crapo directions, he was all smiles...


Seriously, I have no idea how he figured this out...


...but he did and it looks FABULOUS!!

Baby Steps: Completely Moulded

The chair rail is finished!!

Let's take a step back and start from the beginning (of Saturday, at least)... We woke up bright and early on Saturday for our first childbirth class. Yes, we signed up for a 4 hour class on Saturday mornings, but I figured that only having to go for 3 weeks (you have a whole bunch of options for taking classes, but the bottom line is that you'll be in class for 12 hours total, so it doesn't matter too much how you slice it) would be more tolerable than the thought of having to go for six. The fact that I often sit through 4+ hour meetings and Joe can do pretty much anything also helped shape that decision. Much to our surprise, aside from the booooooring car seat video (yes, 45 minute video on how to install a car seat... only to have it taken and checked by professionals who will tell you that you're part of the 80% who installed it incorrectly!), the class wasn't too bad at all! You can tell that Tibbie, our instructor, is a seasoned veteran (she had three children au natural and has been teaching these classes for 22 years) as she cut out a lot of the crap and really gave us the information we need to know. The gory videos are next week, so this one was pretty tame and only one part of a video that was a bit shocking (Holy Placenta Batman!). I particularly enjoyed the relaxation/meditation training part of the class when I got to snuggle up to Joe and imagine myself in my happy place... which is most definitely my bed! ;) All-in-all I consider the first class a success as we didn't run out of there terrified of what's to come, but a little more prepared for what's bound to go down in about eight weeks!

After some lunch (Cheeburger Cheeburger... YUM!), we set out for the task at hand... getting the chair rail up in Baby Girl's room! Joe got the room measured, bought everything from Lowe's, and painted the moulding to match the furniture by 6pm! Dude was on a mission! :) He then treated me to Guapo's and a movie (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!! Go see it!)... seriously, I have the best hubbs ever!

Joe woke up Sunday and got right to work cutting the moulding and I helped get it up on the walls! The whole process really isn't that simple, but seeing as I didn't do much of the work, its hard to describe! After dinner I grabbed a paint brush and did a little touch-up on the chair rail and floor boards... et voila!

Baby Steps: Still Painting...

Last night Joe painted the first coat of Springtime Bloom...



...on the bottom half of the nursery walls. Yay!



Again, can't help but gush about my cutie hubbs... Monday night I hawked his hair for Camp Olympics and Tuesday morning he offered an obscene amount of "olympics points" to any counselor who jumped up on stage during town hall and hawked their heads! Eek! I thought (maybe) he'd get 2 or 3 people, but when I spoke with him at noon he had already hawked about TEN heads... including one of the girl counselors! Rock On Mountainside! ;)

Also, before I get back to the painting, I'd like to note that he was so anxious to start painting that he forgot to change... and realized after the photo above that he was wearing his beloved WB DIRECTOR shirt (which he wears at least once a week!... Thanks ABC!)! Needless to say, I quickly ran and got him a shirt he didn't mind getting pink on!



Back to painting... As my main job was to supply nourishment for the laborer (Read: Coldstone Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip), I wasn't supervising the whole time. I did, however; manage to walk into the paint can and pinkify my only decent pair of maternity pants! Ack!

No worries though, I got most of it out since I realized my faux pas right away. The bottom line is that we're making progress on Baby Girl's room!

Baby Steps: Painting the Nursery!

First, isn't he freaking adorable!? He may not have been so happy about my photography in Home Depot, but my hubby was all smiles once we got home and started the painting process!

In addition to my indecisiveness, Joe loves the look of a chair rail, so we decided to go with two colors on the walls of Baby Girl's room! We had originally thought yellow and pink, but we weren't digging it when I put the color samples on the wall... so we ended up agreeing on pink and green! Pink, Springtime Bloom to be exact, is going to go on the bottom of the wall because most of the decor is heavy on the pink and we didn't want it to be overpowering. Okay, let's be real, Joe didn't want the pink to be overpowering (clearly any and all pink is good for me!)!

After taping off everything, we decided to start with the top of the walls... in Key Lime!

In an effort of full disclosure, let's call a spade a spade, I didn't actually do too much of the work! I was in charge of spackling and sanding, but that is pretty much where it began and ended. Joe really deserves all of the credit for this project...

And before we get comments... We killed two birds with one stone and got paint with primer included (Behr Premium Ultra)! It still took two coats, but is looking mighty fine...

Since we'll be in town for the rest of the summer, we're not rushing to get everything done in one fell swoop... Our childbirth classes start Saturday morning and I have a feeling we're going to be antsy to get moving after sitting there all morning! The bottom half of the room is next (Yay, Pink!), then the moulding... furniture... decor... etc!

Don't worry, we'll keep everyone posted with any progress that's made!

After the Shower...

Jill and Towa stayed with us the night of the Shower (they stayed up in Baltimore with Vycki for the days before, but my house is further south... and shortened their long drive by about an hour!)!

Here's what happens when the gifts get unpacked... girls get silly!!

Caps Cribs... or should I say "Future Caps Fan's Crib"

A LOT went on this weekend, so I'm just going to start posting in chronological order...

First, my fabulous hubby made me clean the house all week (I didn't think he, or his idea for cleaning, was fabulous at the time), but it was all for good reason... so we can start working on Baby Girl's room!

Even though we haven't painted we cleaned out the room and, in a sudden burst of energy, Joe decided to put the crib together! I, of course, interjected with unsolicited advice as I was getting dressed for Shira's BBQ (more on that tomorrow), so I was involved as I could be (and probably more than Joe would have preferred)! Anyway, he's so fabulous and I'm so excited to see the crib in there every time I walk by the room!

The rest of the photos can be found at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/RoryElizabeth2009/PuttingTogetherTheCrib#

Blast From the Past: Sirius Black Attack

I found our small camera last week... we had lost the battery charger, so it ended up sitting in the cabinet for the past year. After a quick trip to Best Buy to get a new charger and a few hours plugged into the wall... it works!

There were a few misc pictures from our trip to Puerto Plata, but I was most excited to find this gem! I'm pretty sure it was taken the night we opened Christmas gifts (2007) and I just love my boys' expressions!

Say Cheese!

Last week we headed up to Mountainside for an impromptu photo session! One of Nancy and Joe's church friends, Laura Franklin, is a FABULOUS photographer whose work I've been admiring since I saw the photos she did of James (Lauren's sweet little boy) a few months ago. I cannot wait for Baby Girl to get here so I can rush her over to Laura's house for her first photos!

Until then, you'll have to settle for some photos of all of us... and me with my 5 1/2-month preggo belly. Here are a few of my faves:

I'm almost as pale as Joey, I need some sun!


Am I really this short?!


I looovveeee this one!


Brandy's little boy, Mason, is due Sept 2nd!


Can't wait for Drew to get home in August so he can be in the next family photo!


Yes, we love our Caps!

Here's a slideshow of the rest of my favotites:

Catching Up on the Past Few Weeks...

Joe and I decided to take a non-traditional approach to Valentine's Day this year... we essentially decided to do a nice dinner a week early, courtesy of the Melting Pot Gift Card Gmom and Gpa gave us for Xmas, and gave each other gifts as soon as they were purchased. Tous, my FAVORITE Spanish jewelry designer, opened up a store at Tyson's... Can we say GRACIAS!!?! I virtually danced into the store, basking in old memories of El Corte Ingles and the street performers that were always right outside. I, of course, spotted some new jewelry pieces that I'll eventually get, but was drawn to the handbags in the back of the store. I might as well come out and say it, Joe's not a Burberry fan. Gasp! I know... so sad. So since I've been toting around my Burberry satchel for over a year, he was kinda excited at the prospect of seeing me tote around something new. Okay, so maybe he didn't care as much about a new purse acquisition as I'd like to believe, but he did offer to get me a new bag for Valentine's Day!

Photo courtesy of my Blackberry Storm... pretty good, eh?

Okay, so we had a fabulous Meal at the Melting Pot... I know that fondue isn't for everyone, but dear god do I love this place (it may also have something to do with the fact that it was where Joe took me on our 1st real date)! I could go on for days about the gooey yummers that we had, but I'll spare you most of them... we got the Cheddar Cheese (this is pretty much the only thing I princessily demand), garden salad (which is always amazing... as it should be if I'm wasting stomach space on rabbit food during this meal), Fondue Fusion (I think that's it... we got the platter with Chicken, Shrimp, Filet, and Teriyaki Steak) with the Mojo Broth (kinda bored with Coq au Vin, so we changed it up and were pleased with it), and the Cherry Jubilee Dark Chocolate (which was yummy and a good change from the normal turtle, but seeing that it was a limited engagement thing, we'll be back to the flaming turtle one next time)!

So, by February 8th, we were pretty much done with Valentine's Day... which meant that by the 10th I was itchy to plan to do something for the next weekend (actual VDay!). I looked up the Hershey Bears schedule and saw that they had a game at home on the 14th... and with tickets at only $22 a pop, I told Joe we were going!

Side note: On Friday night I was escorted by two handsome gentleman (Joe and Jeffo) to dinner and a movie... we saw "He's Just Not That Into You" because the boys thought there was too much girl squealing in the Shopaholic preview and E from Entourage was in this one. The movie was fine, but seeing it with two boys was just hilarious... every 5 to 20 minutes one of them would lean into me and say "Do girls really think/do that?" After my consistent answer, "yes," they just shook their heads in wonder! ;)

Okay, so you know I wasn't going to trek that whole 90 minutes to Hershey and not go to Chocolate World!?! So, we headed up a little early and had just enough time to take the Chocolate World Tour, get the song in our head ("It's a Hershey Chocolate World... Wherever I go, whatever I see, Hershey!"), slurp down some milkshakes (York Peppermint and Special Dark Chocolate), before we needed to go to the game! Once we got into the game (which took a while because Joe had to take the camera back to the car b/c it had a detachable lens... hello? Bad policy!) we had a great time! Since the Caps often call up players from the Bears, we have a decent idea of the players and team. My favorite part was seeing Simeon Varlamov (Bears goalie who is out on injury, but will be back and probably called up to the Caps as soon as he's ready) walking around the concourse with some of his friends... he was in street clothes and flying under the radar, but I totally scoped him out and followed his little entourage for a bit (because I'm too chicken to ask for a photo)! Anyway, it was tres cool! We were home by Midnight with pockets full of free samples and totally exhausted (sleeping in the car while Joe drives just takes it out of me ;) )!

We had dinner on Sunday at the Ranch with the Richardson's and ended up going back over there and hanging out on Monday... by the time Monday night rolled around, I was ready for bed! :)

Here are the few photos that I have of the weekend... including a few of our cute pups playing in the snow! :)

Inauguration

I know I've been a bad blogger lately, and there's no good excuse for it, so I'm going to make an effort to catch up in the next few days... First up, Inauguration Weekend!

The week before Inauguration, Mom and Dad decided that they wanted to come down and join in the festivities... we didn't have any big plans or tickets to anything good (because I simply thought about it too late), but we didn't let that stop us from going!

We went down to the Inauguration Concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday. Somehow we were able to metro right down to Farragut North, follow the flow of people onto the mall, and somehow ended up getting through the security gates and into the actual concert area... which apparently was quite difficult as many of our friends were stuck out on the mall!

There were some definite goosebumps as the Obamas were introduced... it was all so very cool! The concert was great and luckily we had layered up enough to keep warm!







And then came Inauguration Day... Joe Sr. decided to join us, so we all met at my house at 4am to head over to the Metro. We hit a bit of traffic getting into the metro station, but once we got in and parked, we were lucky enough to get on an empty train and snag some seats! We were downtown by 6:15 and came out of the metro station to the chaos... the vendors were already out and people were trying to figure out which gates to get to! The coolest part of the early AM was that there were helicopters with spotlights circling the area... and it totally felt like a scene from Batman or a fun action movie!







Our big glitch of the day was the water main break at the security gate we needed to get through. We got in the line/crowd at 6:30am and anxiously waited for the gates to open at 7. Well, 7am came and went, 8am came and went, and finally a gate opened at 8:30 and the crowd (which at that point filled 4 blocks of space) pushed forward. We were about 20 feet away from the gate for the next 2 hours, but nobody was getting through. It was getting a little hairy with the pushing and we literally got scared for our safety and decided to turn back and try to get in another way. We later found out that they never fully opened the gate due to a water main break.

I begged and pleaded at the Residence Entrance to my building (which we're never allowed to enter through) and explained our story to the security guards and secret service... I think they got tired of looking at me (clearly, I wasn't going anywhere) and let us sneak through! Joe Sr. also pointed out that somehow we got through but Former VA Governor Allen was turned away at the door (his office is in my building)!

Once we were in my office, we had a great view of Pennsylvania Ave and ended up having easy access to the parade route! The Secret Service was very accomodating and let us out without too much trouble... To Daddy's sheer joy, Ann Curry of the Today show was set up in front of my building! Because the aforementioned gate never opened, people couldn't get to our area of the parade route and we were able to get only a few rows back from the street (without having to wait in the cold all day)!











...and then they got out of the Limo!! Joe got a few great shots of the Obamas as they walked right by us!!



It was worth the chaos and cold... We made it... we were there... and couldn't be happier about it!



Here's the slideshow of all of our photos...