My Opa and I on Christmas.

He's is one of the most genuine and loving people you'll ever meet. Each moment spent with him is so special to me.

Merry Christmas.

Season Snapshots

Merry Christmas Everyone 

and

Blessings in the New Year!

My Own Postcard.

The Christmas Bell.

One year in high school, at the begining of the christmas season, my mom gave me a snow man bell to tie to my assignment notebook and said "everytime you hear this bell ring remember that life is more than just thinking about yourself. every chime you hear, think about someone else. how you can better serve them. who they are. what their story is."

and i think every one of us needs a bell to carry around. a bell to remind us to think beyond the too common words of "me, I, and my" that run through our head.

this christmas season my prayer and "lesson" I'm finding myself learning in life is to get beyond myself, my stories, and my achievements. and to focus on others.

when you hear the bells this christmas, think of this. the focus is not so much inward, but outward.

12 Months.

Another year has almost come to close
A new beginning
Of another chapter in our favorite book.
So hard to imagine 12 more months gone by
But if a ruler were to measure
From 4cm to 12 inches
This close went to thisclose.
And now your hand almost part of my own geography.
Watched you grow, watched us grow
A better man and a better woman.
How does this happen?
Silly question; we walk together.
So excited about the future,
Because I think it rare to feel and know this love
Every single day of 12 months.

What I Want.

It's the end of my first semester of graduate school. Yes. At this point, I'm tired, in need of a mind break, and ready for new classes & ideas. The boy is about to graduate with his MBA and my Christmas spirit has been spreading the cheer for over 8 days now. But overall, I'm very pleased with DC and really starting to enjoy living in this city. Now I need this next month to put down on paper my objectives and true ambitions that will drive me into the new year.

Funny thing is, for the past few years, beginning junior year of college, life has seemed somewhat of a consistent game of chess. The planning ahead, the goal setting, the strategizing so that when I make the next move it's the best. Some people think I seem to go with what's in front of me, others see the opposite - and that I've been on a brief tour of the east coast lately and wonder how I can possibly live so far from my family and be so aggressive. But honestly, I don't really care what others think, and am happy with what experiences I've had, where I am, and where I'm going.

What I am noticing is that I'm ready to plant some roots and really invest myself fully into one place, and not have to think about moving for at least two years. I'm just starting to create solid relationships here, know the ins and outs of the little hole in the wall places I like, and feel comfortable. This is part of what's driving me to finish up graduate school by the end of next July. I don't want to be a transient anymore, and really need to finally figure out what state I live in. Ha. Plus the fact that many other factors are lining up, and that I actually enjoy taking 4 classes as opposed to 3. I don't have the energy, no less the navigation skills to continue to master new cities every other year. No joke.

I know I have many tools that I need hanging on my current toolbelt, and need to finish gathering some more here in DC so that I can really build that quality foundation that I want.

Saying Thanks to Troops- Xerox.

Something cool that Xerox is doing

If you go to this web site, LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them.


I would like to say thank you to Megan from the Virgin Islands and Matthew from Tennessee for their postcards. I read them aloud to my section and everyone was happy to get the support from back home. Thank you all for taking time out of your day to do a little for us. Thanks again and we will be seeing you back at home in a few months.

An Air Force sergeant

A Few of My Favorite Things

Stretching after a run.
New Favorite Book.
Coming home
to the Christmas Tree lit.
Cup of Earl Grey tea in the afternoon.

Snow in DC!

First snow of the season arrived in DC today! I woke up this morning, looked outside, and found myself giddy as a child again. My roommate still asleep, I tiptoed around, but secretly wanted her to wake up so I could share the joy. I bundled up in my Columbia jacket, named fittingly - Double Whammy. I felt round and puffy, but warm when I finally made it outside. Good thing too - or else I would have been having a few hot flashes sooner or later. (Think Ralphie in The Christmas Story). Equipped with stripped finger mittens, all but my head was feeling winter's kiss. I stood a few minutes waiting for the shuttle, and once again was mesmerized by the snow falling to the ground. Really, my imagination kicks in and all of a sudden - I'm living in a snow globe.
After getting in my office, I took off my jacket, and lightly dusted the snowflakes off my hair. I was so happy to be back up north - rosy cheeks and all.

Defining Peace

I've been thinking a lot about peace lately. We can all probably recite songs of peace, or come up with at least 50 symbols. War or peace, love and hate. These words get tossed around all the time. It's as if they are only on a global scale, and shades of grey don't exist. I'm not talking about world peace, we have to start smaller. What about in our daily interactions. The smile at a stranger or holding the door open one minute longer. There's the little quarrel or snapping remark the couple makes while doing the dishes, the sting lasting long after the words erupted from him mouth. But all is not lost in one moment, there's the young man giving his seat up to the elderly and all hope is born again.

These are our daily choices. These words and actions that we choose can bring us one step closer to the peace that this season stands for. Just one word or gesture. It's your choice. But before we can even begin to look at others, I will first examine myself. So let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now. With every step I take may this be my solomon vow.

Deck the Halls with Gingerbread. Houses on Display.

Here are some of the Gingerbread Houses from this year's festivities. As you can tell, we have multiple levels of talent :)

New Widget

Look to the right and you'll see a great new widget I've added. Thanks to BookJetty I can now catalog, keep, and display recent reads and wants. And no, I haven't cataloged any books yet - but the widget is up and working!

Very cool!

The Great Christmas Tree Hunt 2007

I pretty much have the best family ever. I mean check out the Santa hats. This family loves traditions and Christmas. Not sure how I ever managed to move away.
Every year around this time my Uncle Mark drives over with his big truck, picks everyone up for breakfast, and then we head out to Christmas Tree Hunt. It's the job of all of the cousins to pick out the best Christmas Tree for Oma & Opa and deliver it to them. Well if it isn't Santa's little helpers themselves...
Have you been naughty or nice??All the trees piled up on the truck ready to be delivered to all our families and Oma.

Things Explained.

I've blinked and it's winter. The yellow and brown of the leaves is now obscured by the white crisp snow. I sit in the living room, looking out through the porch screen as large white flakes fall to the ground. My eyes follow each snowflake as they spin before finding a final resting place. A view straight from inside a snow globe. Welcome winter, I say to myself.

I'd be fooling someone if I said I loved winter. The first snowfall is always magical, but the unyieldly wind and rushing to and from is tiresome on my body. It's hard to believe it has been nearly two years since I've traveled wintery streets filled with the sounds of snowplows and the smell of salt. But I still find myself eager to haul out a sled and a shovel. Last year it was fall and the beginning of winter that brought out some of the sharpest of edges last year, now it's like riding a horse you had been bucked off of before as you slip back into the cold mornings and grey skies that greet the sun for a few hours. Last year at this time was when it felt like my relationship with C was imploding, as it underwent the fierce growth of a relationship that was moving past a life hurt.

If you sift back through moments and memories you can count how many times conversations may have gone amiss. We can all reaccount times when two people were talking but they were talking about two different things. This happened last winter, with the fine brush strokes of different agendas and feelings and work being done. There's no use in trying to figure out what the reason for the pain was or why. Almost all of it was a product of external stresses: from work and life, that had become distilled in the small orbit of our love, although some was internal - new dreams being realized, a heart casualty, sleep deprivation, and a lack of time to ourselves.

So the trepidation is there. Only faintly visible in my pulse. Little snafus, a snag, it bears an undue weight even though we are so far from there; our love more like an aging merlot becoming integrated, refined, and full of rich spices and aroma.

Seasons are funny like this in their ability to conjure up accounts of change and growth, and reflect pivotal moments in life when unsteady ground turned into a rock foundation. Last season was marked with an angst, but a hope and steady drive toward betterment, and I am thrilled to no end to say that this season the angst has been bucked and that an effervescent confidence is flooding all branches of life.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving happens to be one of my favorite holidays. It's a time to reflect and recount your blessings. There are so many things to be thankful for, like - health, safety, the troops, faith, relationships, and opportunities. Besides being full of blessings it's a time to gather with family, and if yours is anything like mine you are always in for a great time. My family certainly got into the holiday spirit - funny as they always are - we caught a great moment on video.
Prelude: My sister is completing a photography project for college and the theme is "Family Feet." You'll quickly see below what makes my family so special and unique - they are always game for helping someone out...it makes it so easy to love them. (One of my uncle's volunteering).

The greatest dog ever. Sam, after Uncle Sam, since they got him near the 4th of July. We just naturally look good together. It's a yellow lab thing.

Being studious or being three stooges? Turkey morning.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The First Snow of Winter

The first snow of winter started to fall this evening. From the inside I could see it was lightly covering the ground with a blanket of white. From the kitchen the scent of gingerbread filled the air. Wine, snow, and gingerbread - great way to welcome the holiday season.

Home for the Holidays and Guitar Lessons

I flew into Chicago with no problem, amen, and was even able to catch an earlier flight. It's definately a bit colder up here, right now it's 37 degrees outside and a light rain is coming down possible chance of turning into flurries.

Woke up this morning and headed over to my aunt and uncle's house with some oven baked apple pancakes. I also picked up the guitar and attempted to learn few chords and frets with my cousin (who happens to be a born guitar genious) seen in pictures below -

Cousin placing my fingers on the strings & right frets. Learning point 1: Little fingers make this much more difficult...note this is a smaller guitar already.

Got a chord! Jam time! (I did try to sing while playing 2 chords in a row...yeah. Ha.)

Texting Thank You to Troops

On my drive to work this morning, I had the radio on. There was a report on about texting troops Happy Thanksgiving and reminding them that we are thankful for their service. After I heard the message and managed to remember the number, 89279, I texted a short message of thanks and blessings for their service this Thanksgiving. Within about fifty seconds I received a message back saying thank you for remembering us.

I went onto the internet when I got into the office to check out this text messaging the troops a bit further and to make sure it was legitamate. And sure enough it was. I was happy to see that a student at Chapman University organized the texting after her brother was shortly shipped out. Check out Texting Thank You - Sending Thanks to Troops and let them know you are thankful for them this Thanksgiving.

NSO Performance and Filomena's in DC

This past weekend the Boy came in for a visit and we went to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to see Mark Evans, of the National Symphony Orchestra on Friday night. A truly gifted cellist, Evans performed two Cello Suites by Bach. One in G Major and the other in D Major. A special highlight goes out to Target and Fannie Mae, who sponsor a free performance each Friday evening, on the Millennium Stage, where the entire city has the opportunity to enjoy great performances such as the one we saw.

We were in awe of Evans' animated playing and passion put into every note. In addition to a fantastic performance, we followed the concert with an amazing dinner at Filomena's Ristorante in Georgetown. This is one of the Boy's top restaurants in DC. Honoring an upcoming birthday of mine, we started the evening at Mr. Smith's piano bar around the corner until our table was ready. Beginning with delectable calamari that melted our mouths, we dined upon the best Italian lasagna and smoked chicken ravioli ever created. At the end of our courses, we made the decision to not resist dessert. A two page menu of the photographed homemade desserts made this pretty easy. Tempting our palettes with cheesecake and raspberry mouse` we toasted the night with the restaurant's signature Peppermint Schnapps and 3 coffee beans: 1 for health, 1 for luck, and 1 for love. Okay, and maybe a few kisses.

This was an amazing evening, and only the start of our weekend. Great music, great food, and the best company ever. Many thanks to the Boy for such a special night!