Yeaa...we're gonna have a good day!

Day 106: This is for the Fab 4. I love you.

Day 105: If I got paid a penny per second that I watch this every day...

Day 104: Someone got these seeds in the mail at work today from a hotel and I thought it was cute and the quote in the card was a good reminder-- "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome" -Anne Bradstreet

Day 103: So...not living in this neighborhood.

Day 102: It is my second weekend looking for apartments. I love the style of the townhouses everywhere out here (pictured). Today, I wrote a jingle as I drove:

(Banjo intro)

I need a place to live,

and I don't want to give,

all my money,

it ain't funny,

I need a place to live!

Day 101: For the third year in a row, I have plopped myself for hours in front of the TV to watch the NFL Draft. I watched it for Mark. I watched it for Tom. And this year I'm watching it for Tim Tebow and Veldheer :) Picture this. Me. On the couch. By myself. With my camera in one hand for the big Charger moment and the Brother Karamotzov in the other in case I got too bored. Watching the NFL Draft and crying at nearly ever pick because of the emotional congratulations that take place in each family as their son is picked. Think of all the effort they have put in for years of practicing! ha. I'm pathetic. Anyway, tonight, Round 3, the 69th pick, to the Oakland Raiders was Jared Veldheer, recent graduate of Hillsdale College and a member of the Charger football team. So proud!! The ensuing days I heard the Raiders mentioned several time as the ones who fared the best in the draft, yes!!

Day 100: ahhh! 100 days done of 2010. weird! I have nothing special to commemorate this momentous occasion...except for I saw this book written by a Kevin Boyle at the library and had to snap a picture. Actually, speaking of KB. I'll just take a second to thank him. I heard he gave his testimony at school this week and know it had quite an effect on a lot of people who could identify. It has been a joy watching KB grow in His walk and play such a great role in lives of the guys around him. I thank God for KB and our friendship and am so excited to see where He'll take him!

Day 99: I had to turn around in a random parking lot today while apartment searching and happened across Bekah's sister school here! Trinity School at Falls Church. Haha...I also saw the bumper sticker on a car. Small world.

Day 98: Today the train was abnormally packed and I was only riding part way so I took a main floor, less desirable seat. As people looked around trying to figure out the congestion and getting ready to complain, 3 soldiers walked down the aisle and one of them said, "I know it's crowded, but it's better than getting shot at". The other two heartily agreed and several onlookers thanked them for their service to our country. It was heartwarming. I also became friends with the 50-year-old former sports announcer who knew all about Minnesota sports, inserted "Guuuurrl" every few sentences, and asked me if I was a model because my hair is beautiful. HA! The guy next to us eventually piped in as a Vikings fan. It was an enjoyable trip :)

Picture: The beautiful ultra sound I recently received from Rachie :) SO excited and wish I could be with you throughout this pregnancy, Rach! I promise I'll be a big sister to her like you are to me! (also, it's looking good for the flower girl role since I haven't found a man yet!)

Day 97: I leave my house every morning at 7:00 am. Depending on one light (that is 3 minutes long and occasionally I get stuck at it twice) and the school crossing (with a very cute crossing guard..we've made great progress and now smile at each other. He's older, not a student, thanks), I get to the train station at 7:21, get out of the car at 7:23 and get on the train at 7:27. If I leave my house past 7:05, I miss the train. Essentially, one mishap and that's it. I rush to the station, watch the train pull away, and then turn around to get on the highway and drive 20 miles to the end of the metro. Anyway, today I literally ran through the parking lot to catch the train, leaving myself absolutely no dignity and almost making it so I can rest assured that at least 2 cars full of people saw my sprint. Lovely.

Picture: Bust of George for an award we're giving at our next meeting :) Unfortunately the office discussion is that he needs clothes. Thoughts?

Day 96: It cost me 80 cents at FedEx today to look up Kelsey's house number to send a pie to LT. Seriously? What a rip-off!

Summer's Comin!

Day 95: I love the rolling hills and the greenness of Virginia. Perhaps I’m simply tired of winter, but the greenness of the green here is astounding. It just has this presence that envelops you as you drive down the road or look out at the hills. The train rides have taken me back to the summers of my childhood and the dirt paths through the woods promise adventure. The shirtless barefoot boys fishing on the inlets of the Potomac make me long for the days of Capture the Flag or bbq-ing in the backyard while playing catch with the family. You can’t return to those in a new place by yourself. I drove miles this weekend enjoying the scenery and gasping several times at the picturesque whitewashed churches that starkly stood out against their green surroundings of towering trees with the sun always shining through at the perfect spot and at the large Southern homes overlooking the fields, but nostalgia cannot be met. It’s memories lingering in the air with no chance of obtaining them anytime in the near future. After pondering for a while, the best mood that can be hoped for in response to this nostalgic moment that begs to be fulfilled is a sense of excitement. I can’t go back. I won’t have my childhood or college days again. But the future ahead of me, no matter how empty it looks in my book, is full in God’s, and all I can do is wait in excited anticipation for what is to come.

Day 94: Found a GREAT new beach! It's about an hour down a beautiful country road and took me to a State Park on the Potomac. It was gorgeous and I'm excited to go back this summer with friends!!


Day 93: I got Chinese and they asked me if I wanted a small or large WonTon...I thought it meant in size and said small. Apparently that meant I wanted a small box which was like 10. Clearly I would not allow myself to finish off these tasty little Heart Attacks...



Day 92: Happy Tax Day! Not really, but there were free blizzards outside of the IRS for the Blizzard's 25th Birthday! Perfect snack for while attending the Tea Party!

Day 91: Today I was on the phone with my dad as he walked into Herberger's. As he narrated his walk through the store, you would've thought he was being tortured: " I'm going into the perfume... There are women everywhere. Ick...This is like a disease. Everyone is looking at me...This is like a segregated church...They're all staring at me. ICK! Its like they're all saying, 'what are you doing here!?" It was pretty entertaining. (picture is for tomorrow's Tax Day Tea Party Rally)
Day 90: I missed the train today and tried to get to another stop rather than driving all the way to the end of the metro. Route 1 (pictured) was far worse than 95 and I missed several options to simply get back on the highway. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to get to work. Cannot wait to move closer.

Day 89: Ahh the Twins have their home opener today at Target Field! I'm not sure the tradition is to be continued, but for the Metrodome every year, they had "Breakfast on the Plaza" on opening day. You could go down to the Dome from about 6-9 AM and they would bring hot dogs, newspapers, chocolate milk, and donuts to the window of your car. My dad would bring us down when we were little and we continued the tradition in high school. 2 years in a row (and Bekah did it once I went away to school) we got them to send Wally the Beer Man (legend at the Dome) to our car for us to sing the Twins song for the radio and then he'd give us free tickets for that evening. Great memories. Wish I could be there today :) This is going to be a season to remember for the Minnesota Twins!!!

Hillsdale: Definitely the people.

Day 88: SAGA BRUNCH! YAY! Too bad I wasn't hungry for it...but still got to have my fave dessert. Headed back to the baseball fields for another good game and afternoon catching up with friends. AIA was absolutely the highlight of my day :) It was so wonderful to be back with Kelsey trying to kill me in spoons..no, but seriously, the AIA crew is another part of my Hillsdale fam, and it was great to be encouraged by Jonny's lesson and surrounded by those people. The weekend ended with some final catch-ups that took me well into Monday morning, but they were all so worth it. Kelsey, Bakker, Brad, Maggie (delivering the stolen Fun Dip to unsuspecting friends in the library), movie with neighbor Ben, Lauren, and Carrie--so wonderful! Thanks everyone for such a wonderful weekend!!

The picture is the yellow apartments, where I lived this year. I was walking by and realized I don't think I had any pics of the outside. Definitely a very charming place! You can't tell from the outside, but all wood work, some stained glass windows, and our apartment was well decorated with fun colors and a chalkboard wall!

Day 87: Charger football AND baseball in one day! Watched some of the football scrimmage and spent the afternoon watching an excellent baseball game that I had to leave from before we even got to the best part! Charge on, Chargers!! We all got all dolled up for Nancy's Bachelorette party, for which, she looked absolutely beautiful! We headed to Ann Arbor where plenty of old couples enjoyed watching her open her lovely gifts in our glass encased private room :) It was a fun evening and I was so happy to have the opportunity to celebrate with her!

Day 86: Ohh Hillsdale. It really is the people. I spent today sitting in the Union (as I always did), but this time there was nothing else I was supposed to be doing! Tried to give blood with Maggie (she succeeded, I did not), spent a fab happy hour with Kelsey and Em, briefly caught up with KB, went on an adventure with Hayter, Fiske, & Steadman, avoided the Pi Phi open house, had Rosalie's with some Cassie, Alison, & Kels, and that was just my afternoon! It was truly wonderful to spend quality time with all of these people I have missed so much!! I sat on Kelsey's porch briefly and encountered/took pictures of several reminders that I was back in Hillsdale. Two students walked by carrying something (which, I cannot for the life of me remember now, but it was absolutely bizarre, like..swords or something), someone walked by full out singing, and I was sitting next to the bagpipe house. Ahh the people.

Day 85: Heading to Hillsdale today! I left my desk at 4:50, stopped at the bank, rode the metro, got through security, and to my gate by 5:40, amazing eh!? Of course I was 2 hours early for my delayed flight, but it gave me time to read, eat the pretzel hot dog my dad has recommended several times since being out here, and catch up with the fam. I finished a project for Carrie on the metro this morning and needed the Arrowman song for it, so that's the picture :)

Cherry Blossoms, baseball, and Pi Phi Nachos

Day 84: I sat at a baseball field to read for a while in the sun today, a regular old sandlot. Something about it just takes you somewhere else. Summers of the 60's-my dad in his small Ohio town. Back when kids were allowed to play on their own without their mothers worrying-gone for hours on the dirt lot they called a field. Blistering heat forgotten as each kid stepped up to the plate, the bats cracked, and the gloves snapped after being used as a shield to block the hot sun as the ball fell through the air....ahh baseball.

Day 83: I went to work out today, but needed to make my lunch first. This was leftover taco salad and I still had extra meat in the end. Naturally, I needed to finish the meat and the perfect opportunity for that was Pi Phi nachos :) I felt no guilt and did my crunches immediately thereafter :)

Day 82: Opening Day!!! (old picture cuz' obviously they aren't at the Dome and I didn't get to attend)

Day 81: Went to see the Cherry Blossoms at full bloom. I put all the pictures up on Facebook, but this was one of my favorites with the Jefferson Memorial. I had heard and read about these flowers many times over the years and I promise they do not disappoint. Some views were absolutely breath taking!

The Office

Day 80: Easter candy bag #1: Completed.

Day 79: Text to Bekah: Do you think mom and dad would like this?

Day 78:
So my desk is around the corner of my office kind of on its own and is the first thing someone sees when walking into our suite. From this vantage point I see 50 % of the elevator riders, and hear the elevator any time it opens. There are only 4 suites on our floor, so this is not a huge inconvenience, in fact I kind of enjoy it at times. I have to come to realize, however, that the people in other suites on our floor deem it their right to use the hallway for personal phone calls; apparently this unchartered territory = no man’s land. Last week I heard an entire wedding shower planned. Every day this woman went out in the hall to further the plans. We’ll call her Tina. The bride is registered at Crate and Barrel and someone wasn’t invited to the shower and no one knows what to do about it. If she really feels bad about it, Tina told one of her callers, they can just invite her to the shower. Tina has a pretty annoying voice so after a few minutes I have to resist the urge to shut the door to our office. Today, we had a new hall dweller! I’ll call her Kim. Yes…Kim is looking for a birthday present for a 7 year-old boy and "does not support" giving computer games so that all he does is sit with his electronics all the time. Apparently the caller did not appreciate that and Kim’s next response was, "if you’re going to constructively criticize, don’t be an a-hole about it!" At this comment, I had to see who this hall-dweller was so I headed out the door to go to the bathroom. At that point she said, into the phone mind you, "this is awkward", and to my GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT switched to another language!! She’s back to English now and it has been a good 15 minutes, so I guess the waters are calm. I’ll keep ya posted on Kim, Tina, and the wedding shower as I hear more…

Day 77: Thank God for this staple remover.