2 Months behind, but determined to Update...

Day 166: Naturally I saw this and thought of Michelle. In my love for retro t-shirts and old Coke stuff, I would absolutely love it…if it was regular coke. Oh well.





Day 165: I somehow thought this was kind of artsy…My phone camera didn’t really capture its essence.

Day 164: George quilt from Maggie.

Day 163: Saw these cute heart shaped leaves on our walk down to Guapos today for the soccer game. Man, who knew Americans were so into that sport! Bars were filled 2 hours before the game today throughout DC just in anticipation of the game starting, can't lie myself though, it was easy to get caught up in!

Day 162: Isn’t this kinda weird? The “Free Mulch” sign is just like a real legit sign…

Day 161: Maggie Martin is amazing! She sent us a wonderful box of cookies and cards to our new home!! Unfortunately, however, to my shock, disgust, anger, and paranoia, we came home to find that a SQUIRREL had broken into the box and the bag! Can you believe the audacity?! I sent Lauren some last year and she didn’t even know there had BEEN cookies in there because she just saw a hole and the baked goods were gone. Unbelievable. After much discussion among my housemates (and actually not too much persuasion) we decided, to my near horror, that it’d be okay to eat cookies from the other side of the bag…I could only handle this for one chocolate cherry cookie wonder, because the talk of waking up from foaming at the mouth due to rabies was far too detailed for this rodent hater. Moral of the story, please send baked goods, but I guess they’ll have to be sent to my office! THANKS though Maggie, I was thrilled to see a package, even if it had been attacked!

Day 160: This is an old picture, but I wanted to show the pictures of the presidents that were in the media control room at the Nats game. Love it!

Day 159: I know you can’t see this…but my parallel parking is getting amazing. -->

Day 158: Mmm, Strawberry pie :) Perfect for a hot summer day when the oven shouldn’t be on!

Day 157: I passed this in the parking lot of Giant, turned around, and parked at the back of the nearly empty lot just so I could take a picture. Love him.

Citizens Bank Park

Day 156: Ahh, what a day. New Ballpark #3 presented a phenomenal game that put this park experience automatically at the top for this summer. It was a 3 hour drive, but a gorgeous day and good company. Upon reaching Philly I rolled down my windows hoping everyone would see where I was from and who I was there to support. A guy stuck in traffic getting off the highway leaned out his windows and said “Welcome to Philly, ladies” and gave us premium free parking pass for next to the stadium…Definitely a good start and we’ll pretend that’s why it’s the “City of Brotherly love”. As we walked in I told Carrie, "this is how baseball is supposed to be". The game was sold out, it was stifling hot, but people were pumped. A surprising number of Twins shirts and things were good. We got 3 runs in the first, but that was it for a long time. In the meantime we enjoyed the giant hot dog that shot hot dogs into the stands from the field, the Liberty Bell that lit up and rang for home runs (k, didn’t enjoy those home runs, but the concept was cool), the Philly skyline in the distance, and the entire song “Just another American Saturday Night”. We also enjoyed the “play the bongo drums” fan cams and the bull pen that was in the outfield on two different levels (later a home run was caught out there in the bullpen!) Negative points for the 7th Inning Stretch, there was no warning that it was coming and by the time we stood up and started singing the song was half over. The sun didn’t let up once and we were burning the whole time. Then comes the good stuff. 9-4 in the 9th, Twins are down and haven’t had anything since a solo Morneau homer in the 6th. The Twins fans in front of us left (leaving their “Circle us Bert” sign, to my delight), but it quite literally did not cross my mind to leave. Not that I ever do, but I had a feeling about this game, and I’m normally right when it comes to those feelings. So. In some miraculous way, we get 5 runs, including a Mauer homer (only his third of the season and his first hit of the day…”did you ever know that you’re my hero?” was playing in my mind) to tie it up! Suddenly, the Twins fans are much more visible. The ensuing 30 minutes were stressful and exciting. Homer in the 10th for each team and then several walks in the 11th that left Mauer and Morneau on the bases with Rausch (our PITCHER) up to bat. I thought for sure he’d bunt into a double play, but he someone pulled off a beautiful bunt and not only did we get out of the bind, but we got 3 more runs. Final score 13-10 Twins. Man, the excitement pulls me off my feet with absolutely no thought! The stadium emptied quickly, leaving the Twins fans (growing in number) to revel in the win. I was walkin on sunshine and thrilled. Carrie said on the way to the car, “Man, I’m a Tigers fan, but I’m really having fun pretending to be a Twins fan today..everyone see her hat!?” Ahh. It was all marvelous. Definitely worth the drive, the tickets, and any heckling I received.

I scream, you scream..we all scream for Ice Cream!

Day 155: Even my shoes are patriotic…

Day 154: Fire drill at the office building…complete with a smorgasbord of breakfast treats for when we were done. Apparently 13 minutes to empty a 14-level building is not acceptable, so I guess we failed.

Day 153: Started moving stuff tonight into the new place tonight! Pictures will have to wait until things are a bit more settled. For now this beautiful sailboat picture that I got from Winnie will have to do :)

Day 152: (Above)I looked down and straight up laughed when I saw this as I packed. Please note the books that are laid nicely in the box and the one thrown in the duffel bag on the floor. Ha!

Day 151: It was burning hot, 2 in the morning, and I could not fall asleep. Best solution? Ice cream in bed.

Day 150: Fireworks are legal? Actually heard that they are okay so long as they don't go more than 9 feet, so the vendors in Virginia only sell that size!

Day 149: Murphy’s in Old Town! My favorite pub with live Irish music fading into “Sweet Caroline”, “Piano Man”, and other crowd favorites as the night goes on!

Day 148: Thursdays are Farmer’s Market days on 15th street in front of the White House! The street is blocked off for vendors until about 7:00pm. It was a pleasant surprise this evening. Apparently even the busy streets of a city like D.C. can take some time for home grown food!

Self Check-Out = Epic Fail (Every time)

Day 147: I have strong feelings about the self-check out aisles at any store. Kroger, CVS, Giant, you name it—they don’t work. Unfortunately, no matter how I feel about their failure in actually making life any easier, I have yet to learn my lesson. To grab your attention, the lines are never long. This is the first trick: You think there isn’t a line because everyone whips right through, but really it is because everyone else in the store has realized that they don't work. So as I zip through the store hoping to make it home quicker, I fall for that trap.

The process starts off fairly easy, swipe your card and start scanning items. The first problem normally occurs upon your decision not to place the item in the bag (for example: large items that would be easier to place back in cart). As the computer starts to calmly repeat OVER AND OVER “Please place the item in the bag. Please place the item in the bag.” It maddens you to the point that you either place the 24 can box of pop in the inadequately sized bag or simply place your purse in there to trick it. At some stores there may be a belt, but no, don’t get excited, if you don’t have someone there to pack the bags, the calm voice will again start to tell you to “Remove the items from the line, Remove the items from the line”.

If you finally make it through all 5 of your items, up comes the problem of paying. Coupons? Forget it. They either won’t scan or won’t go into the computer. Questions on the price of an item? Good luck trying to go back and rescan. In CVS this will automatically call the employee and last time I tried this bells and whistles went off throughout the entire store with that same irritatingly calm voice trying to tell them “Customer needs assistance. Customer needs assistance. Customer needs assistance.” For me, this lasted for a good minute before I picked up my items and went to the real check-out. I was through the entire process before an employee finally noticed the flashing light and loud speaker throughout the store.

Next, it’s time to pay. Choose “Debit” and you need a password. Choose “Credit” and you still need a password. Either way, no number will work, but if you just hit cancel, you’ll surpass that portion of this ridiculous attempt of making life easier.

The final step of your struggle will be to sign the screen. This only happens IF you can find the pen that rarely works anyway. Since it won’t be legible, I now just scibble. Don’t forget to take your receipt; the maddening voice will call after you all the way out the store.

Bottom Line: This attempt to get you through the line quicker is only a ploy to lessen the work of the store employees and will leave you cranky, running late, and will take away your opportunity to cheer up the dull day of the cashier.

Day 146: So, Strasburg had his big debut tonight. He’s 23 years old and he threw 14 strike-outs, broke records and had absolutely no problem doing it. He was so down to earth when they interviewed him. He said all he really remembered was the first pitch which was a ball, low and inside (I was listening in the car and instantly concerned that the poor guy was not going to reach the potential the hype had created). He then likened the game to his wedding! How many 23 year olds can compare their major league debut to their WEDDING!? He said, “it’s kinda like your wedding, you want it to be all perfect, but then you can hardly remember it!” Haha, anyway, these are the goosebumps I literally had when I heard them talking about him and his game on the radio. Good for him, I hope he goes far and stays humble..Keep it classy, Strasburg!

Day 145: Didn’t go in this store, but I thought the name of it was cute. “Why Not?” Aside from the Hilary Duff music now floating through my mind it sounds like a mix between a horoscope, Dove chocolate wrapper, or maybe a candy heart..Regardless, I thought it was somehow pleasant thought provoking.

Day 144: Control room at Nats stadium.

East Coast Livin'

Day 143: D-Day! We went to the new wing of the Marine museum yesterday…They added Revolution, Civil War, and WWII exhibits AND we had the opportunity to see the Marine Band play. It was amazing to see how far the Marines reached in their beginnings—The United States was so involved around the world and we were powerful! I know we still are today, but that is hardly the way we are ever painted, even within America.
Day 142: New ballpark #2!! Let’s do a little synopsis. The general atmosphere of the park was…just that of a hot summer night. Lots of people having a good time though, so that was good. Clearly loved the “President’s Race” which starts out in center field and had Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, aaand someone else racing around the warning track starting in center field and heading to first base line—points for the patriotism. The organist played “Hey Soul Sister”, “Hey ya” and other popular hits, so that was impressive and added to the young crowd. Had great seats on the first base line AND a tour of the production room after being on the jumbo-tron twice! I still think Great American was prettier, but this experience was a pretty close match! 0-2 for seeing winning games by the home team though…guess that’s a good thing for the pending Phillies-Twins game in Philly and Orioles-Twins in Baltimore!

Day 141: Well, haven’t moved yet, but I met the girls by our new place for a happy hour after work, so excited for this new area! Super cute little downtown and then great walking/biking/running paths along a creek. All close to DC AND safe! This party bus was driving down the street for some guy running for Congress and while we disappointed him when we said we weren’t registered voters in Virginia, we assured him we would vote for him if we could!

Day 140: Dinner. And they say you have to go to college to make money.

Day 139: Bahahaha, I found this picture today and had forgotten about it…Basically it was the Heil kids playing at Pentagon metro station. Bekah rode up and down twice trying to find us and Ben and I thoroughly enjoyed the trickery. We seriously discussed the possibility of pulling an “Improv Everywhere” move and all sitting in different places on the train and start singing different parts of “In the Jungle”, but we were far too intrigued by the woman literally doing drugs on the metro.

Day 138: I would just like to take a moment to expound on the phenomenon that is crabs out here. I am telling you, it is the strangest thing to me. To me, a summer night is barbequing on the patio with my family, playing catch, and listening to a baseball game. Out here, it’s sitting with a beer at picnic table with a pile of crabs. Not only did I experience this first hand while in Annapolis (and was pleasantly surprised at the fun and tastiness of the whole situation), but it happens all over! I digress: I was sitting at the pool this weekend and I overheard the following conversation.. Wife: I was just going to pick up some crabs..Husband: Sounds good. Wife: I’ve got some burgers I’ll toss on too. Okay, point is, they treat it like we do chips or corn on the cob. I’ve just never really been outside the Midwest!