Christmas and New Years

One of the great things about DC is that if your job is at all tied to the federal government this place pretty much shuts down for the holidays.  Every federal holiday.  This means an abundance of 3 day weekends and the week off between Christmas and New Years.

So, we headed out West and spent Christmas and New Years in Oregon visiting family and friends.  We had to fly on Christmas Eve, but we caught the same flight as our friend Anna so we at least enjoyed the company of a good friend all the way to Portland.  And even the small child throwing up in front of us (and all over Tim's coat under my seat) on the last leg of our journey wasn't going to dampen our spirits.

We spent the first few days in Portland with Tim's aunt and uncle and got to see just about all of Tim's side of the family while we were there.  And then we spent six whole days with our immediate families together on the Seymour ranch in Haines.  It was a very low-key and enjoyable time together.  There was lots of food, good conversation, card games, even some crafting.  And it snowed!

AND while we were there, we celebrated the fact that my mom kicked breast cancer's butt!!  She had her last treatment just after Christmas and just like that the worst of it was over!  They just got back from Hawaii, celebrating and enjoying the warm weather.  I'd say that's a pretty good way to celebrate making it through such an ordeal!

It was a little hard coming back to the fast pace of DC after such a relaxing time in Oregon.  But in many ways our time there reaffirmed to us both that we are exactly where we belong right now, and exactly where we want to be.  That's good to know.

There are far too many photos of Christmas and New Years to post here... but a good collection of them can be found here. 

Halloween visitors

This is Tim's aunt Cindy and her man Byron.  They're pretty fun folks.  And they came to visit us in DC!  Granted, that was back in October and I'm just getting around to sharing the news now, but still.  They came over Halloween weekend and we had so much fun!

We took them to Eastern Market where we ate yummy food, saw a super cute pumpkin-costumed dog and purchased fresh veggies for Byron's home-made dinner that night.  Can I just say YUM?!?

We also walked out to Roosevelt Island and enjoyed all the Fall colors.

 

 

And went to the Newseum - my new favorite museum in DC!!

Then stopped by Ford's Theater and the house across the street where Lincoln died.

 

And stopped by the White House at sunset.  We even saw the president's helicopter come in for a landing then quickly take off with the president inside and the other two decoy choppers.  Pretty cool!

 

And every night we went to Capitol City Brewery at Byron's insistence.  Gotta have that local micro-brew.

On our way to and from all of these places we naturally stopped by the monuments - Washington, Lincoln, Korean War, WWII, the Navy Memorial etc.  And stopped in at the National Archives to see the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.  For some reason we also have the Magna Carta at the moment.  So we got three documents for the (free) price of two!  Lucky us.

So, you're becoming Catholic?

Shortly after we moved to DC, Tim began attending Mass at St. Peter's of Capitol Hill.  It's this really beautiful cathedral between our flat and the Capitol.  I loved walking by this beautiful, old building when I first visited DC in January.  And now that we've taken up residence nearby, I love hearing the church bells when we have the doors open to let the cool, fresh air flow in.

But, for Tim, this place holds more meaning than a beautiful facade and the ringing of church bells.  To him, it's a place of peace, faith and inspiration.  He has long felt drawn to Catholicism, but recently decided to take action.  For several months he attended Catechism classes on Saturday mornings among other activities.  It's been really interesting and somewhat inspirational to watch him grow and find his place in the faith community.

So, a couple of days after I returned from El Salvador we had six of Tim's Catholic relatives in town for his confirmation.  Our marriage was "validated" in the Catholic church on the 21st with Tim's cousin Joe and his wife June as witnesses, and then Tim was confirmed on Sunday the 22nd of November.  We had a really great time with family in town and it was special to have them here for the Confirmation service. 

Tim's cousin Mary Hellen, Great Aunt Clare, Grandma Barbie, Tim, Father Burn, Joe, Aunt Kat and June after Tim's Confirmation.

Much more could be said about all the discussions Tim and I had before his confirmation and those we continue to have now.  But really, all that needs saying is that two people who love one another don't have to be identical in the ways I thought they did growing up.  We don't have to believe exactly the same things; differences can spark important conversations and make us stronger.  And I wouldn't have it any different.  So, a big congrats to Tim, and here's to many more years of learning from one another as we change and grow.

The New Left and Jesuit Martyres

Since I promised updates, let's start from the beginning of the months of silence and work from there.

In November I got to take my first trip to Latin America with my organization, the CDA.  We took a small delegation to El Salvador to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Jesuit Massacres there.  It was my first trip to El Salvador and I traveled with people who had been involved there during the civil war 20 years ago.  Their stories and familiarity with the country brought a whole new life to our trip.  Many of them had close encounters with death and were reunited with old friends for the first time since they left during the worst years of the war.

Our delegation participated in the official vigil at the University where the Jesuit priests were massacred,  attended official government ceremonies and met with numerous governmental and community leaders to discuss the future of the country after the recent FMLN victory in the presidential election.  We also traveled to the countryside to take aid to those who were affected by the floods which happened shortly before our arrival.  It has been interesting to watch how the Funes government has responded to the needs of El Salvador - keeping an eye toward the poor and the helpless.

To see all the photos from our trip, click here.  For the grouping of photos I whittled down for facebook, this is your link.

Just a couple:

LOVE this girl.

In front of the presidential palace.

The Alfombras commemorating the massacre.  They are made of meticulously placed sand.  This is on the campus of the university where the Jesuits were killed.

...New Post Here...

At the urging of some of you, I'm jumping back into the blogosphere.  November and December were really rough on me, mostly due to work but also due to my extremely hectic social life (*winks*).  And Tranquila Seeker suffered.  But no more!  Check back soon for updates on what's been going on in the last couple of months - there's been a lot, obviously.

More soon.

Stair Fun

I've been making a concerted effort to take the stairs whenever possible lately.  It's my little way of adding a bit more exercise into my daily routine.  And it feels good.  Then I saw this video on one of the fitness blogs I follow and it made me wish my stairs, which I usually have all to myself, were like these ones!

What's YOUR Flu IQ?

Dog's Leg Steals His Bone...?

Don't you just hate it when your leg tries to steal your food from you?

Fall Reflections

"Reflection Tree"

All you Summer-lovers out there who are still trying to eek out the last bit of use of your tanks, shorts and flip-flops... you might want to cover your ears (or eyes, as it were).  'Cause here's the thing... I LOVE Fall!  I mean, I very much enjoy summer sun-dresses, water sports and barbecues, but I love everything about this season between Summer and Winter. 

I love the fact that we don't sweat when we're outside.  And all the cute sweaters and jackets.  I love the crisp air that hints at all the changes yet to come.  And the colors - ohhhh the colors.  The changing of the leaves in Oregon was beautiful, and I can only imagine what it will be like out here, where the Fall Colors are 'famous'. 

Every Fall causes me to reflect on the changes in my own life as well.  And inevitably there are many.  This Fall is no different...

The biggest change is a new personal passion that has recently come to my attention.  As I've already discussed, I recently realized the extent of my photography obsession which has been growing for years now.  With a little encouragement from my mother-in-law and husband, along with a dose of self-realization, I decided I might be able to do something with this obsession.  I'm far from "doing something" truly meaningful with it, but at this point I am enjoying the digital photography and Photoshop learning process.  There's just so much to explore!  And you know what they say - Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life!  That's a pretty good goal to aim for.  You can follow my journey over at Just a Bud.

As I continue to reflect on the changes in my own life this season, I'd love to hear what the crisp air of the changing season has brought into your life!

Is that really necessary?

It's noon, and I'm still mentally disturbed by what I saw this morning. 

Tim and I had a nice little stroll to the Metro where he "dropped me off" with a kiss goodbye and the usual well-wishes for a good day at work.  I snagged my daily Express newspaper (news. brief.) from my favorite Express distribution dude at Capitol South and headed for the escalator as usual.  That's where the pleasantries stopped and the creepies crept in. 

At the top of the escalator there was a man (I assume it was a man) dressed as the grim reaper.  I couldn't see his face (does the grim reaper have a face?), but I could hear his evil laugh and I could definitely see the very large poster he carried. On it was a blown up image of a bloody fetus' head.

Are you disturbed yet?

As if that wasn't enough, Grim had some form of voice amplifying device that made it impossible to block him out.  He was laughing the most evil laugh I have ever heard in my life.  (Worse than Heath Ledger as The Joker or the laugh from MJ's Thriller.  And, no, I am not exaggerating.)  Once his sinister laugh dissipated he proclaimed, "Keep fighting for the right to kill your babies and I will reward you for eternity...." punctuated by more evil chuckles.

Can you see why I am still disturbed hours later?

Shutter Bug

In this season of swine flu scares I feel it would be good of me to warn you... I've caught a serious case of the shutter bug and can't seem to shake it.

Saturday I took the plunge and invested in a quality digital SLR camera.  After hours and hours of research, and years of yearning for a camera that made that dreamy shutter sound, I went with the Nikon D90 and am extremely pleased so far.  Of course, anything of higher quality than my little point and shoot Canon PowerShot SD 750 would have me in awe I'm sure.

I spent most of Saturday snapping photos at every turn and playing with all the dials I've never had before.  Fortunately there is always something to capture in DC, and if the cityscapes and public protests aren't enough, my husband, friends and kitty have been very patient "models" (so far).  A word to the wise, however, if you'd rather not have a camera in your face I'd stay away from me for the foreseeable future, or the next, oh, 2 years at least.  I figure that's how long it'll take me to learn most of what I want to learn about portrait photography.

And if you're interested in following my journey as I learn about photography and Photoshop ... among other things, I'm sure ... you can check out my new blog over at Just A Bud.

NYC

I'd never been to New York and I guess I didn't know what to expect, but it was nothing like whatever I didn't know to expect.  I suppose I had glamorized the city...  Unbeknown to me, my imagination had created a vision of a clean, beautiful city where everyone was fashion forward and the air smelled of roses and cinnamon rolls and the streets were paved in gold.  Ha!

A few eye-opening observations from my first trip to NYC:

- This city overwhelms the senses (and not in the cinnamon rolls and roses kind of way). It is a loud, dirty, smelly, huge city. Most of the time, except for Central Park and the MoMA, I felt like I couldn't get a deep breath of air. My lungs apparently knew not to take in that much fowl "air" at once. The streets are covered in litter and everything seems to be in disarray.  Nothing is kind or gentle about this city. Everything is in your face (or up your nose, as the case may be). Times Square is the best example, of course. And that was our first stop after we dropped our stuff off at the hotel (which is another story entirely).

 Times Square

- The Statue of Liberty is not nearly as big as the movies make her look.  I thought she would tower over the city, but the skyline actually dwarfs her.  Which just seemed so wrong!

- A dump of a motel is more expensive than the Hilton in Oregon.  I'm not so clueless as to think that for $200/night on Labor Day weekend that we were going to get a stellar hotel. (or am I?)  But what we did get was still a shock to the system.  There were two double beds in our room each butted up against the wall, and there was almost enough space to walk between them.  Nothing matched (see photo below).  The bathroom had mold growing on the ceiling and along the tub, toilet and sink.  All at once Laura managed to pull the curtain rod above her bed down on herself while trying to shut the curtains for privacy, Tim nearly fell through the rock hard bed (did they screw up and put the box spring on top?) in an attempt to fix the curtain rod, and I realized there was no TP in the bathroom (mid stream of course).  That pretty much sums it up.  I slept with my hands between my face and the pillow in an attempt to keep from breathing whatever was surely inside. 

On the plus side...

- Central Park is as beautiful as one would imagine an 80-block green space in the middle of a huge city.

- The food is amazing! We planned our trip around Laura's favorite restaurants and other places recommended to us.  The food might have been my favorite thing about the City.

- One can easily catch a cab at any hour of the day or night. This is in stark contrast to DC where you practically have to order your cab online in advance unless you're on Pennsylvania Ave. or at the airport.


By Labor Day even Tim was saying, "I can't wait to get home to DC!"  Which is saying something for a guy who has no great love for DC (or any city with a population larger than 50,000).  And upon arrival back in the District we were both shocked by how clean (sterile, even) our city felt.  It was kind of refreshing.

I have to admit that I do not *heart* NY (does this make me un-American??).  But I DO *heart* the view from the top of the Rockefeller Center!

Call me Uncaring

I have a confession to make: I'm pretty sure DC has turned me into a B.I.T.C.H.

- Here's the proof -

I used to be an idealist. One of those annoyingly optimistic people who think they can fix all that is wrong in the world. After just five months living in DC, when I walk down the street between the Metro and my office I don't want to be stopped by people out to save the world. I don't want to be annoyed daily by people from CARE, Greenpeace, PETA, or those people who make Obama out to be Hitler. I most certainly don't want to be approached (and made to feel guilty for not stopping) by three people from the same organization while walking from my office to the post office two blocks away. I'm just trying to go about my life. I don't want you asking if I have a moment to save the planet, or a moment to help abused animals, or a moment to solve world poverty. Your incessant attempts to stop me on the street drive me crazy. I'd like to think that I'm just annoyed by their patronizing ways - treating me as if I'm not already doing my part to help make the world a better place. As if every person walking by is not already helping, but maybe I'm just completely uncaring and heartless.

Not only that, but I have become the most annoyable person I know. People who don't follow the "rules" of the Metro system make my blood boil. I have too many stories to share on this topic for the short time I've been using the Metro Rail system. And if I recount them my blood pressure will likely shoot through the roof, so I'd better not. But suffice it to say, people are crazy. And when you put them into small spaces like mass transit trains and tunnels they seem to lose all common sense and politeness that their mama's (should have) taught them. About once a week I leave work in a pretty good mood only to arrive home fuming. I've got to find a way to control this pent-up frustration. I can't control them, I can only control me. *deep breath* I can't control them, all I can control is me.

Birthday No. 24

This weekend I celebrated my 24th birthday. I will soon have to start acting like a real adult, not just the pretend one I am currently. I assume that age (when I am expected to transition from pretend to real adult) might very well be 25, when I am trusted to rent a car without extra charges. So I've only got one year left of pretend adulthood. On the up-side, my birthday fell on a Saturday this year. So I took advantage of that timing along with the fact that neither Tim nor I were starting school on or around my birthday (which is usually the case), and we used the entire weekend to celebrate!

Friday Tim and I went out to dinner with two of my girl friends at a comedy club called DC Improv and thoroughly enjoyed the show! It was a low-key and enjoyable way to kick the weekend off right.

At DC Improv

Saturday started with a 90 minute massage. *sigh* Then it was off to the grocery store with Tim in preparation for the BBQ with friends at our place. Tim was, as always, the grill master working up yummy yummy hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ baked beans, and grilled corn on the cob. He even put together and served appetizers as the guests arrived: cheese ball with crackers, chips and salsa etc. All very healthy and low in fat and sodium. And so delicious!

My dear friend Laura made birthday cupcakes which just made my day. She toted them all the way from her place near Georgetown on the Metro - a birthday fairy coming through the front door with shoe boxes lined with plastic wrap and filled with delicious individual desserts that spelled "Happy Birthday Kendra! YAY". You can see why I love her.


The BBQ stretched into the wee hours of the morning as we watched funny You Tube videos, danced to innumerable peppy songs (over and over), and just enjoyed hanging out. We started the evening intent on migrating to Cafe Citron for Latin dancing and mingling with strangers (that's what you do at Clubs, right?), but we lost track of time at "Club Seymour" and never moved on. I didn't mind.

The girls gather for a group picture at the BBQ

Sunday was more low-key. We girls went out for brunch at Founding Farmers (one of my favorite brunch places in DC) then saw Julie and Julia in Georgetown. A pretty perfect Sunday afternoon.

Founding Farmers Brunch

As it turns out, 24 is not so bad.

A Pacific Northwest Retreat

We spent three days over the weekend camping at Lake Pend Oreille in North Idaho with Tim's family and mine. Our time, though short, was blissful. I didn't realize how much I miss the Pacific Northwest.

Tim's little cousin Kirsten instructing him on how to arrange our tent.

The weather was less than ideal, but nothing dampened our spirits. We spent two days enjoying a reprieve from the DC humidity and heat, bundled up in sweatshirts, jeans and tennies. And standing by a campfire felt oh. so. good. I think the majority of my time at the lake was spent just enjoying the fire.

Tim's sister and cousin jumping off the dock.

Our final day on the lake the weather decided to cooperate and gifted us a beautifully sunny and calm end to our Northwest retreat. The lake was almost glassy, coaxing us into a 6:00 AM wakeboarding run. All the boarding, tubing, skiing and boating that day took a toll on our poor muscles and Tim got pretty badly burnt. The physical effects of our day of boating fun are constant reminders of the fun we had. And it was worth it to play in the water and be out in the sun on the gorgeous glassy lake surrounded by green trees and a blue sky.

Wakeboarding. *sigh*

Like I said. Bliss.