TGIF!!

After another long week at work, I decided I needed a night to go out and have fun with friends. I have't been into the bar/club scene since grad school but every now and then it appeals to my mood.

Last night Stu and I went to this bar in Arlington called Clarendon Ballroom. I used to go there a lot when I interned on the hill. It's a fun place to dance and chill out. My only complaint was that I got there at 8:30 - pretty early for a club - and they charged me cover! Now, granted it was on $5, but still ... Women should never have to pay cover! (sorry, guys)

Anyway, once we were done there we grabbed a burger at Hard Times (very good) and then went to Liberty bar. It was great! Stu has so many friends up here that he has known since high school and it's so much fun to get to know them better. We hung out until 1 am ... I was so tired. I don't know how I used to stay up all night and then work the next day. I guess I'm getting old.

We haven't taken many pictures together, Stu and me that is, so I had one of his friends snap a few when we were at Liberty. We had a couple of beers in us by this time ... ;-)

I know, I know ...

Ok, so it's been more than a week since my last post, but I have a good reason! I sing in choir and on praise team at my church and we had FIVE services to perform at for Easter this past weekend. Not only was I living on the risers Saturday and Sunday, but I also had four hours of practice on Friday night! Add boyfriend time, best friend is moving in three weeks time, and work time - I had no time left for blogging.

I survived the weekend and the services were great at church. I'm singing this weekend on praise team, which I'm so excited about! It's just me and the worship leader (usually there are 3 or 4 people on stage) so I'm a little nervous too. I've never sung in front of two thousand people before. If you are interested - you can watch online at 9 AM and 10:45 AM EST. Here is the link http://www.mcleanbible.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=17257.

On a positive note, I had my first guitar lesson with my dear friend Alexis a couple of weeks ago. I've been practicing when I can and building up my fingers. I learned A, G, E, and D. Wahoo!

I'm such a poser.

More to come when I find time ... does anyone have any extra I can borrow?!

Washington DC

As I have mentioned before, I live about 12-15 miles from DC. Actually, that is a little misleading. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get into the city depending on what time of day you decide to go. If you metro (our version of the subway) it takes about 30 minutes as well.

I've been learning more about the metro again since I started seeing Stu. He likes to take me into the city and explore whatever new exhibit is available. It's been great for me to get more familiar with what DC has to offer.

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian to see the 3-D U2 Imax they were showing there. We got there early with the intention of walking around the museum before the show. Unfortunately, the museums close at 5:30 on Saturdays so we only had about 15 minutes before we had to leave. We walked from the Smithsonian to the Capitol South metro across from the House office buildings. It's about 3 metro stops (Stu was a little winded).

We ate dinner at a surprisingly good mexican food place called Tortilla Coast. Stu and I both spent time working on the Hill and that was one of the restaurants government workers used to frequent. It was great to think about all my crazy times as an intern. I can't believe that was four years ago!

We metro-ed back to the U2 show (at Stu's request) around 9pm. It was a great show! Worth the money if you like U2.

I took some pictures of the mall at sunset. Here they are:

Family

A couple of weeks ago I visited my Aunt, cousins and grandparents in rural Kentucky. It was great - a real break from the busy pace my life is usually going at in DC. I even got to pet some goats and see a 14 point buck.

This past weekend my Mom was in town from Texas. It was wonderful - no alarm clocks, no appointments, totally free from obligations. It made me look at my life and wonder if my priorities were in the right place.

I moved to the DC area three years ago after I got my masters at Texas A&M without much thought as to how I would handle living so far from my folks. I integrated well up here and made a good life for myself full of friends and activities I never would have attempted if I was in Houston.

Yet as I have gotten older, I realize the importance of keeping close ties with the people who matter the most. My family has been supportive of my through the good times and bad; through thick and thin; and I know they won't be around forever. I love them so much.

Some day, when I've had enough of the crazy world that is DC, I just might move back down to the land of oil and cattle, where I know I will always have a piece of my heart.

Automaticity

There are many definitions for the title to this post but the one I'm blogging about tonight is the automation of seemingly everything in American society.

Case and point: I was at the pharmacy today and as I was walking out to my car I almost ran smack into the glass door. I paused and stared at the handle (for far too long than I care to admit) thinking, "Ok, what do I do ... it isn't opening for me ...". I literally forgot how to open a door.

And if you can't relate to that anecdote, think about all the things in your life that you just can't live without. Power locks, ATMs, wi-fi, elevators ... I could go on and on.

I am such a slave to modern conveniences that when I was at my relatives' house this weekend in rural Kentucky, I almost had a panic attack when I realized I didn't get email to my blackberry because of limited service coverage.

I mean, my world would fall apart if I didn't find out immediately that so-and-so in Arizona is getting a promotion to senior-big-wig and it affects my job zilch. They don't call them crackberrys for nothing!

Oh to live back in the day when people actually had to write letters to each other with a pen and paper and mail it with those relics called "stamps" ...

And they even had to open their own doors.

Mardi Gras and electricity

For those of you who haven't heard - last week, Tuesday to be specific, was Mardi Gras. I myself am not catholic so I don't quite understand all the holidays that go with it. What I do know is that Mardi Gras is a great time to get a little crazy with your buddies and enjoy strings of cheap plastic beads. I have only been to Mardi Gras once before; a long time ago in Galveston. I tend to shy away from the really crazy parties because of all the drunkeness. But when my friend Anita called me last week and asked me to go with her and a group of friends to a parade in Clarendon, VA, I couldn't resist.

We had a great time! There were lots of people there with their families and really fun music. The parade people were pretty cool but we learned soon after it started that we picked a bad spot to stand and catch beads. The people throwing them from the floats were more interested in getting them caught in the branches of the tree we were standing under than letting us catch them. I got a measly three strings. All the kids were in front of us were able to get up closer to the floats and they cleaned up!

They had lots of different companies represented in the parade - including Red Bull. And yes, they were actually chucking cans full of Red Bull into the crowd. Isn't that a little dangerous?! A guy in front of us caught one and gave it too me. It was great - especially since I didn't have to get injured to catch it.

Here is a picture of Anita and me after the parade at a place on Wilson Blvd called Whitlow's. I didn't really drink that much beer. ;-)

So I had a pretty challenging week at work and didn't really breathe again until the weekend. Stu took me out on Friday to a japanese grill called Sakura. It was great and the Saporo was exactly what I needed. I was so full, I don't think I need to eat for a week!

On Saturday I sang at church and then watched The Shawshank Redemption. I'd never seen it before but Stu said it was a really good movie and he was right. It's hard to believe Stephen King wrote that story.

We had really high winds here on Sunday that knocked the electricity out for several hours. The way we get into the house is through the (electric) key pad on the garage door so my roommate and I were homeless Sunday night. Stu charitably let me stay at his townhouse so I wouldn't have to sleep in the 10 degree weather. Thank goodness the electricity came back on at some point in the night and we were able to get ready for work Monday morning.

I'm going to Kentucky this weekend to visit my grandparents and Aunt. I should have more to write about next week and lots of cute pictures of my cousins. Until then, here is a picture of Stu and I when we went bowling with Anne. I just like it and thought I'd post it :-).

Busy life

Ask and you shall receive. Just when I thought that my blog was going to become an update of my New Year's resolutions through 2008, my life got exciting again. I actually have fun stuff to write about this week!

First, and in the spirit of resolutions, I ran 8 miles on Saturday. Or rather, I slowly jogged for an hour and thirty-five minutes on my treadmill. It was one of the best runs I've had in a while. I might actually finish the ten miles in April!

Friday night Stu got great seats at the Wizards game so we metro-ed into the city to watch our team lose to the Utah Jazz. (there is Jazz in Utah?) The game was fun and the company was better so we still had a great time. Walking around DC after the game made me want to move there - if it wasn't so expensive.

Saturday night Stu and I went bowling with Anne and Brian. Bowling isn't really my game (I bowled a 27 once ... really) and I felt bad for Stu because we competed as couples. Anne and Brian definitely kicked our butts. I can't wait go bowling with my kids one day so I can justify the use of bumpers.

After bowling we all went to get wings at Lucky's - a sports bar and grill. There Brian figured out that he had met Stu two years ago at a random party where they had a conversation about brick city. Brian is a very creative person and thought up this city made entirely of brick and how it would be put together. It's kind of funny - brick city keeps on coming up in strange places.

Yesterday I sang on praise team at my church. I go to a mega-church called McLean Bible Church. I think it has around 10,000 members. There are many services and campuses in the DC metro area. I sang at a campus that has three services on Sunday mornings and seats about 500 people per service. It was really fun to get up there and sing again. The first two services were pretty packed but the 12:30 was empty. I think there were only 30 people in the audience. The low attendance probably had something to do with a little game called the superbowl.

For superbowl I went to a party in Arlington at this awesome house owned by one of Stu's friends. It was amazing! It had a great room in the basement with huge couches, a pool table and the most awesome toy ever - a 100-inch 1080p HD TV with surround sound. I have to say I'm a sucker for the latest electronic gadget. And you haven't lived until you've watched football in HD on a great LCD screen.

Needless to say it was a very busy weekend and I'm definitely feeling the need for sleep. That's what work is for, right?