National Zoo

This afternoon I spent nearly five hours at the National Zoo with two young ladies who had never been to a zoo in their lives! One of them is a friend of mine from high school who is here doing an internship with an Oregon Representative. The other is her roommate here in DC.

Aside from the fact that there were no penguins, polar bears or giraffes (my favorites), we had a good time!

The National Zoo - we had to pose out front, of course.

Our National Zoo would not be complete without our nation's "mascot"

A very playful "kitty"

Cute monkey

Giant Panda

Memorial Day Weekend

It's officially the end of our long Memorial Day weekend, and boy did Tim and I enjoy ourselves. Here are the highlights:

Friday we went to the Nationals-Orioles game at Nationals Stadium. It's a pleasant 15 minute walk from our house, and on Friday nights they have fireworks! The weather was perfect, and even though we lost in the 12th inning we still had a lot of fun:

Nationals Stadium - Home Run Nats!

The four of us enjoying our Friday evening in the sun.

Senators Sausages, where we got our over-priced park food.
I have to laugh at the names places get around here...

Yummy Bratwurst! One for me, and one for Timmy, I swear!

Saturday we got up early and headed out to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

the National Aquarium in Baltimore


Dolphin Show!! My favorite part. :)

Woah!!!

So cute!!

This little narcissistic guy cracked me up!
He loved the camera so I took multiple photos
and I still laugh when I look at them.

Beautiful jelly fish.
There was a new Jellies exhibit that opened the day we went.
We were the first ones in.

Kinda scary croc! Look at those beady eyes.

Lunch at an Irish place on the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

Saturday night BBQ at our place.
Tim grilled yummy burgers and Kielbasa.
Anna and I did the guac, veggies, and fabulous chips with mango peach salsa.

Sunday we went to IKEA to get Tim a new desk (since the moving company never found the major pieces of our desk they "misplaced"). It was pretty comical (after the fact, but not during) to see the difference between how men and women shop. Timmy went straight for the desks and within 10 minutes had decided which one to purchase. Then, in his opinion, we were done. Meanwhile I inspected everything, trying to decide what to get since I had all sorts of plans for the apartment. We compromised in the end and got him a desk and me a bookshelf, a bathroom organizer and two cool lamps. A big thanks to Anna's boyfriend Grady for taking us to IKEA in his truck and helping us transport our purchases.

We also caught the National Symphony Orchestra's National Memorial Day Concert on the west lawn of the Capitol Sunday evening with a couple friends. It was an enjoyable combination of vocal, band, and symphony tunes as well as speeches by famous people like Colin Powell and Gary Sinise. Even a pacifist like me enjoyed the military-focused, patriotic-chill-inducing ditties.

After the concert

Today our landlords took us on a road trip to Annapolis, MD, home of the US Naval Academy and situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River. We took a driving tour of old-town Annapolis and enjoyed the boardwalk for a little while before returning to DC.

Tim and our landlord Marc on the boardwalk in Annapolis -
enjoying the sun, the view, cool drinks and the live music.

Our landlady Dale and I enjoying another bench along the boardwalk.

This evening we saw the Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian in the Air and Space Museum IMAX. It was fun to see the film in one of the buildings where it was filmed, but the film itself was nowhere near as good as its prequel.

I think Tim was done having his picture taken at this point.
But here we are waiting for the movie to start.

And to finish the weekend off, we have been putting together our IKEA purchases. Sophie has tried to help, but has mostly just been cute while getting in the way.

Putting Timmy's desk together

Bathroom storage!! Or kitty storage??

I don't think I've had such an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend since 2005 when Tim professed his undying love for me and we began dating! (but that's another story entirely)

No Longer Unemployed

Yes, folks, it's finally official. I've been offered the Administrative Coordinator position at the Center for Democracy in the Americas! And, after a little negotiation, I accepted the job this evening. I will be starting on Monday after a very full week of Temp work this week.

On an entirely unrelated note, I found this video of Obama fairly amusing. Our president has a sense of humor and can make light of a variety of people and issues even during these hard times. I enjoyed his "stand-up routine" even though it's odd to see him joke around through an entire "speech". And speaking of our president, he was featured on the controversial cover of the latest issue of Washingtonian Magazine. I first heard about this cover during my second interview at the CDA and subsequently saw it at the grocery store. I guess all I can say is... I'm proud to call him my "new neighbor" even if he doesn't really qualify as a "neighbor" since his house is nearly a three mile walk from mine. (Yes, I Google Mapped it.)

Around the World via Embassies

On Saturday my friend Anna and I toured several Embassies through the Passport DC Open House program. We didn't make it to all the ones available to us, but we did enjoy several. Check out a few photos below:

Anna getting her Henna tattoo at the Bangladesh Embassy

Me getting mine done

Bangladesh Henna

United Arab Emirates - they weren't open to the public, but their building was the coolest.

See what I mean? Cool Building!

Malaysia, obviously!

Malaysia (they had a fun, cultural marketplace in their courtyard!)

Pakistan

Pakistan

Band playing at the Nigerian Embassy

Drummers at the Ghana Embassy

We also went to the Ethiopian Embassy and saw a traditional coffee ceremony, but I forgot to take a picture there.

I heard a rumor that the Embassy Open House tour happens on the first Saturday of each month, with a select group of Embassies opening their doors. I've not confirmed that yet, but I hope it's true, because it was a lot of fun - and it was free! I love my new hometown!

And speaking of my new hometown... we went to see State of Play on Saturday. Though I was not entirely impressed with the film, it was still fun to see parts of DC I have come to know personally on the big screen.

A DC Studio

Our apartment is not perfected yet, but I've had people bugging me for photos, so here they are!

This is what you see when you walk in

Looking to the left after walking in the front door

Looking to the right

More to the right, almost looking back at the front door/entry area.
Bedroom/extra seating.

The entire living room and bedroom areas, looking back toward the front door from the middle of the apartment.

The kitchen. The table and chairs on the left are left-overs from our landlords. Once I nail down a full-time job we will be getting a new table and chairs that fits our decor.

Kitchen sink and the only plants in our house so far (thanks mom!)

Sophie's "room" and the backdoor out to the back yard (with large map of the Chesapeake Bay)

Speaking of Sophie, you can see she's taken over the house... and has adapted well.

Happenings

To avoid an extremely wordy post, I've bullet-pointed a few highlights from the last week or so.

- MOVING TRUCK: Our stuff arrived on Friday (only two weeks late)! Only a few things didn't show up, and they only dropped off one box that wasn't ours. So, we're still waiting on pieces of Tim's desk so he can set that up, and we're filing a claim for damages to a few pieces of furniture. But, we are VERY excited to sleep in our own bed and to have all our stuff back! Pictures of our new apartment are coming. I am just waiting until we get our missing items and can finish setting everything up.

- TEMPING: Friday I began temping at the Stevens Institute of Technology's DC office, in the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center- the second largest building in the DC area (next to the Pentagon). It has been a convenient commute, and a pretty good job temporarily. I'm also temping at Madison Marquette, a commercial real estate company with an awesome 10th and 11th floor office suite. Temping has kept me sane, helped us earn a bit more cash, and allowed me to be patient and picky in the search for a full-time perfect/dream job!

- ENTERTAINMENT: Last Friday night we went to Catholic University of America to see a new musical titled "This is Not My Life", written by a friend of a friend. It was enjoyable and provided lots of laughs. Look for it on Broadway! ;) After we got sort of settled, we had a couple of friends over on Sunday for a BBQ. It felt really nice to entertain!

- EXCITEMENT: Tuesday we attended a reception in one of the House office buildings for the University of Oregon's outgoing President, Dave Frohnmayer. It was his last visit to Washington before he leaves office, and we met him personally as well as lots of other U of O alumni. We also met a distant relative! Upon meeting this girl named Tahira, she and I really clicked. We were talking and hanging out, then Tim came over and I introduced them. She mentioned that she was from Tillamook, and he was going to ask her if she knew the Hayes' from Tillamook (extended family). But then he realized her last name was Hayes, so he asked if she knew the Hayes family of Bend (closer family), and she said "yeah", and Tim says, "Like, Joe Hayes?". At this point I'm nearly shrieking from shock and joy. And Tahira says "Oh my gosh, that's my cousin!" Anyway... it was all very exciting, and now we're BFFs. *winks*

Mark, Tahira, me and Tim at the University of Oregon reception for Dave Frohnmayer

- JOB PROSPECTS: I had almost given up hope, but last night I got an e-mail from the Center for Democracy in the Americas requesting a second interview next week! It sounds like I will be going in on Tuesday for the follow-up interview. I'm ready to seal the deal. ;) I also found out a couple days ago that I did not get into the White House Internship Program. Oh well...

- RUNNING: My friend Anna and I are training for the Capitol Hill Classic 10K. The race is May 17th and we've got a lot of training to do. Given that I hadn't worked out for over a month when we got to DC, it's been a big tough getting back into running shape. But we're doing it one run at a time. Getting up at 6:15 AM to run before work is half the battle!

- SMITHSONIAN TOUR: Yesterday we went to the Natural History Museum and the Smithsonian Castle and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Both were much less packed than the American History Museum, and more interactive and interesting. Even though I'm more into Political Science than I am into hard Science, I found the Natural History Museum much more enjoyable. I've included a few pictures from our Saturday adventure below:

My friend the Penguin and I (Natural History Museum)

At the beautiful Smithsonian Castle (dang I'm white!)

This is obviously the thing to do when you come across a circle thingy

I hope you are all enjoying the sun, assuming you have Spring Sun!

Good News!

Since we now live in a studio, I thought it prudent to buy a covered litter box to control odor. After a long walk in the rain and some misinformation, I finally found Chateau-Animaux, a french boutiqe pet store with everything I needed (and more). Fortunately, it is just five blocks away on Barracks Row. I trudged home in the rain with my kitty treasures, set up the litter box and threw out the temporary cardboard box and trash bag we were using. To Sophie's dismay, however, the new litter box is much more complicated and perhaps frightening. See for yourself:

In the end, I coaxed her into the litter box by holding the door open, but her fluffy tail didn't seem to make it all the way in:

A very fluffy tail!

I think I have too much time alone in our apartment with my kitty!

On another more productive and less entertaining topic, I recently interviewed and tested at Track Services. They are a placement agency that came highly recommended to me and we are working on placing me at temp jobs to fill the void while they search for my full-time dream job. I scored well on all the computer tests (97% across the board on the software assessments, and 94 wpm typing with 1 mistake per minute). These scores have landed me a temp job with the Stevens Institue of Technology at 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. I start tomorrow and will be doing administrative support for their newly opened office 1-2 days a week for now. While this is not permanent, nor dream material, it will help fill my time and suppliment our income, which is certainly welcomed!

Lastly, and possibly most exciting, I got a call from the driver of our moving truck today! He said they will arrive tomorrow (Friday) between 12:00 and 2:00! Of course, the day I get a job they decide to show up. How ironic and poetic. Fortunately Tim will be able to meet them at the house when they arrive since he can walk from work.

As an added plus, the sun is shining again, so I am sitting outside at Starbucks writing this. AND we got our DirectTV box set up a couple days ago. Free DirectTV from our Landlords? Yes, please!

That's all for now!

Easter weekend

This weekend we began our Smithsonian tour, the goal of which is to see one Smithsonian museum each weekend for the next four months. We began our tour on Saturday with the National Museum of American History. It was a rainy day and we stood in line outside for about 45 minutes. Good thing we had our trusty umbrella (thanks for sending it, mom)!

Almost to the doors!

The museum itself was quite interesting, though packed with tourists. We were not patient or energetic enough to stand in the long lines for the American Presidency, First Ladies, and Thanks for the Memories exhibits but we plan to go back right at opening time one of these days to hit those three must-sees.

After the American History Museum we Metro-ed out to Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond to get a few home furnishings. It was quite an experience Metro-ing and walking home with big bags! I was very thankful for Tim (who taught me about Waltzing Matilda ... as seen below)!

Timmy going "Waltzing Matilda"

We spent Easter Sunday morning at the Union Station location of National Community Church. It was interesting, but too showy, hyped and shallow for our taste. We walked there and home, which was nice given the sunny weather.

Tulips and Fountains

Model Pose - SPRING!

Stoic Timmy with the Capitol Building

This afternoon our landlords hosted what they had described as a "little brunch". As it turns out, it was a FEAST! And at one point Tim turned to me and said, "I think I'm the only person here who doesn't speak Spanish!" This was due to the fact that the crowd invited was the "Latino friends," and Tim's statement certainly explains the vibe of the afternoon. There were people from all over Latin America, and all were well-educated, bi-lingual, and professionally successful - a fun group to meet and chat with!

As if that wasn't fun enough fun, there was enough food for three Christmas dinners! Marc and Dale cooked a turkey, a ham, shrimp (on the barbie), sausages, turkey dogs, and hamburgers - and that's just the meats! There were also mashed potatoes, pasta salad, crackers with cheese, multiple fruit and veggie salads, deviled eggs, pastries and numerous desserts! Needless to say, we won't be hungry for a day or so... and they want to give us left-overs as well ... can't say no to that!

What can I say? We've got a pretty SWEET set-up!