Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear

Living close to DC definitely has it's perks.  Say for instance the closeness to National Events that occur on The Mall such as The Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear that John Stewart and Stephen Colbert hosted recently.  We decided to brave the crowds and head downtown for some laughs and be a part of something that would certainly be talked about for a while.

The Rally was scheduled to be from noon until 3pm so we thought we would be doing well to start our journey around 10-11am-ish.  Oh we were so wrong.  There were lines like I have never seen before in my life to get onto the metro.  Upon closer examination we found out that it was the line just to buy tickets for the metro.  Thankfully we were able to scrounge up tickets for everyone that was going downtown without having to wait in those lines.  We were able to breeze through the turnstiles and make our way down to the platform pretty easily.  When the car pulled up to the Dunn-Loring Metro stop (one from the end of the orange line), it was full.  Or at least what we thought was "full".  Haha, what an understatement.  We all piled on to the car much to the chagrin of the current passengers.  It didn't get better at any other stop we made.  By the time we decided to exit the metro I was literally squeezed in by people on all sides of me. We played telephone through the crowd of people to communicate our plan to exit  and even then we were wondering if we would all be able to climb out in time.  Thankfully, the current passengers wanted more room on the train so they were happy to make a hole for those leaving. 

We made our way from the Foggy Bottom stop down to the mall with droves of other people.  As we got closer the crowd started to pack in and you could see people taking pictures of everyone and every sign.  Honestly, the signs were the best reason to go in person.  Most of the good ones were captured by people and put on this website.  I am proud to say I saw a number of those first hand.  We didn't really hear too much of the Roots playing which kicked off the event.  We did hear John Stewart make his entrance and Stephen Colbert calling in from his Fear Bunker.  We heard the crowd chanting something that sounded like "G-A, G-A,  G-A".  We found out after watching the Rally on TV that he had come up in a Chilean Miner mock pod and was really chanting "Chi-lie".  We were down there long enough to hear Ozzy and then the O'Jays, but left a little after 2 to avoid what would inevitably be even worse crowds going home.  Hey, we still had a Halloween party to get to. 

While we didn't really get to see and hear everything, it was really amazing to see all the people that came out and all the signs that people made.  One of the members of the crowd was passing by us saying, "This is one of the nicest crowds I have ever been in" and I agree with her.  As many people as there were, there was no shoving, screaming, and elbowing.  There was a lot of "Excuse me, Pardon Me" (as seen on a sign as well).  It was definitely an experience to remember. 

Fast Forward Catch Up

It was really my intent to post on everything I had taken pictures for up til now.  I figured those were probably the more significant events that occurred in the last 6 months.  There were also some things were just significant news items with no pictures, but either way, I had a hit list of things to "catch up on".  To be honest, the thought exhausts me.  So I thought I would do a one longer post with a 3 sentence limit on events as they happened.

Right after graduation, our house was getting packed up one more time for our move back to Washington, DC.  I had gotten a job offer with a promotion to work in Rockville, MD for my off program position and I took it.  Let's just say, the older my kitties get, the less the enjoy the long car rides.

Shortly after arriving in DC (about a week), we were back into the events of friends in Northern VA with a 4th of July BBQ out in Loudon County.  Jeremy marinated and cooked meat for something like 20 hours and it was delicious although hot as balls out.  After roasting all day, we went over to Jeremy's parent's house for fireworks and s'mores.

The crowd that plays volleyball

The crowd that watches volleyball

The following weekend, Rob and I decided to go "hike" at Great Falls but we didn't make it to far because it was 100+ degrees out and we were just miserable.  Instead we walked the C&O canal and dodged rain drops.

Great Falls, MD side

Later in July, I timed my return trip home to pick up remaining items from NY (including my wedding dress and plants) to coincide with a good friends baby shower.  That was a lot of fun.  She has since had her baby and he is super cute.

Baby Shower Cake for Jenn

At the end of July, we went to Megan and Bruce's b-day party where there was more volleyball.  I have decided being a sports photographer could be a back up plan if being an engineer falls through.

Rob missing the return from Mike

Matt serving it up

Before we knew it we were in August and off visiting our close friends The White's in Newport News.  We spent some of our visit in Colonial Williamsburg, but most of our time was spent playing with Julia, my favorite little person!

Julia with her new bff Tigger (gift from Aunt Sarah)

As we were unpacking, apparently we found some hats. 

The things Sparky puts up with

In the middle of August we went to West Virginia for an adventure weekend of white water rafting and zip ling through the tree tops with an overnight camp trip at ACE Adventure resorts.  For reasons I don't totally understand, I don't have any photos of this.  It was a lot of fun and I didn't die white water rafting; which honestly was a concern.

At the end of August we set out on our next excursion which was down to GA for a wedding of a classmate of Rob's.  We stayed with Bonnie and Alex in TN so we got a nice long visit in all around.  Also, the photographers for this wedding mistook me for someone who knew what they were doing because they were following me around and copying angles I was getting.

The happy couple

 In September I celebrated my "last" birthday by walking around DC, hitting up the German beer garden, and enjoying a 4 day break from work.  We also celebrated Amanda and Collen's birthdays later in the month with various activities.

Rob and I participated in the critically acclaimed Applefest 2010 at the Godfrey's house.  It was a lot of fun and we even got to take home some cider (which was delicious).

Sarah picking some apples

Bruce taking a turn at the wheel while Sarah and Rob feed apples in

Bruce and Rob squeeze out the juice

In October, The White's came to our house for a weekend of fun, pumpkin picking, and hanging out.  Julia even started to crawl a little (a few forward creeps before rolling out of it).  She's growing up so fast!

Andrea, Julia, and Tyler

Julia in the pumpkin patch

SO!  I think that brings us up to Halloween, which I think I can handle it from there.  And if I can't, I am not sure I should continue to have a blog.  :P  Besides I have had a lot of funny thoughts that I haven't posted because I "should really update the blog first".  It's not a rule written down anywhere, but one I impose on myself because I have slight OCD.  Here we go again!

I Are Graduated!

Over the last two years of my life, I have been going through a rotational leadership program at work (amongst other things).  In June, I officially graduated from the program.  When I started it felt like I was on a never ending road.  A year of grad classes, a few business projects, committee work, community service, 3 week long conferences, and not to mention learning a new job every 6 months with at least two bosses, and oh hey, throw in a move too. I am really happy to be done.

Graduation was kind of a two part deal; we had site graduation and then graduation at our final conference which was also held in June.

Allison and I at Syracuse Site Graduation

Tea time bud Shawn and Andy and I

Our final conference was held in Landsdowne, VA at "the compound".  This week long conference was better than others before with better classes and more personal time (a rare and precious thing during these events).  They also arranged for a "Night at the Museum" where they opened up the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum at Dulles International Airport just for the conference participants.  The had their docents there to ask questions about planes and history in the museum.Very cool night.

Brent, me, Allison, Bryant, Greg, and Susan

SR-71 Blackbird

Me, Greg, Susan, Brent, Dave, Bryant, LaTisha

It was an interesting two years with a lot of experience.  I met a lot of great people and made life long friends.  But I will have to think long and hard about doing something like that again.  :)

My Sister's Garden

If there is anything I will really miss aside from family and their cooking in NY it's my sister's gardens.  She maintains them well and has orchestrated them so there's always something blooming.  I really enjoy walking around and smelling all the plants, it's very relaxing.  Of course every now and again I remember my camera and try to capture some of the fun of the flowers in her garden.

The view from the driveway

She really has a green thumb whereas I have a yellowish green thumb.  I am learning, but have a long way to go.  She brought back all of our plants we nearly killed off this past winter.  Time in her gardens do everyone some good.  I really think she could be on the pages of Better Homes & Gardens someday.  In the meantime though, I will just enjoy her gardens with a glass of wine and warm weather.

Sun Spots

Oh to be a well loved kitty in a house with great sun spots some day.

My Hair Donation

So after the wedding I had told myself that I was going to chop my hair off immediately.  I had at one point, even contemplated going to the hair salon the very next day to have it done.  Needless to say (you've seen the honeymoon photos) that did not happen.  If fact it was almost 4 weeks later when I finally bit the bullet and went to the hair salon for the "big cut". 

Admittedly, this was not my first time doing this so I wasn't that nervous about having all of my hair lopped off at once, but that really makes some salon people nervous.  I don't think I will ever be emotionally attached to my hair and find it hard to sympathize with those that are.  Don't get me wrong, I love my hair, but it always grows back so it's not like I lost it forever.  My favorite part about chopping off 8"-10" of hair is that light headedness you feel.  Not like you have been hanging upside down for 5 minutes then sat up real quick light headed.  More like you have had a weight on your head and it's suddenly gone light headed.  It's a pretty fabulous feeling.

This time I decided to grow my hair out for Pantene Beautiful Lengths for a few reasons.  One - they make wigs for women with cancer.  Two - they require less in inches than Locks of Love which was the last place I donated my hair too.  I am willing to donate, but I have my limits on what I can handle.  About 4 months before I reached my goal with Locks of Love I almost chopped off my hair.  I figured best not to chance it a second time around. 

Did I mention I left work around lunch time to go do this and then came back to work?  I got a lot of double takes that afternoon, but it was all good.  :)  Someone else will enjoy what I don't miss a whole lot more.

Driving The Coastal Highway

On Sunday, we said good bye to our lovely cottage and hopped in the car for our drive back to the city.  We took the long way back driving down the Pacific Coast Highway which was a lot of fun, a little scary, and totally beautiful.  There were places to pull off every half mile or so.  I think this was two fold.  One - Get the tourist a place to pull over and stare at the scenery and two - give the slower drivers a place to pull off so the speed demons in sports cars can whip around those tight corners.  We took advantage of them for a little bit of both.

Our first stop was probably the longest, as we just stared at the Pacific Ocean.  Not having spent a lot of time along the west coast, it is quite a different scene that the east coast than we are used to and therefore warranted more viewing time.  They have a rockier coast line and with that comes some pretty spectacular waves and sounds.  It was like listening to one of those ocean CD's at a spa.  I would have napped if we had the time.

The West Coast

I was really enjoying my new camera and all it's wiz bang features including a time delayed multi-shot option.  I got really creative and decided that I wanted to capture a wave coming over on of the rocks out in the water.  So I set the timer and had to try a few times, but I think for the most part, I did a pretty neat job.

We finally decided to move on and made a few other stops along the route.  We made our next extended stop at Point Reyes National Seashore.  From what I can tell, this is the west coast equivalent to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.  It's a stretch of west coast that's protected land which blue whales can be seen off the coast during their migration season.  It also contains the San Andres Fault.  We were feeling like pretty big risk takers driving through there.  :)

We waved at some sea lions that were out sunning themselves on the sand bars on the water.

And for lunch we stopped at the all awesome In and Out Burger for a real California treat.  Both Rob and I have been to one once, but when in Rome...

After lunch we went back to the Fisherman's Wharf to finish up our City Pass and enjoy the scenery once again.   We hit up the Aquarium by The Bay for a little while.  It's a small aquarium, so it didn't take long to work our way through it.  It was pretty neat though.

We had originally thought that was all we were going to do, but as we walked by the Gold and Blue Fleet Tours, we realized we could catch the next boat out for a tour (also in the city pass).  As it was no out of pocket expense to us, we figured might as well go.  We started by going out past the sea lions at Pier 39.

Lazy, sunny, sea lions.  They say there are so many in the harbor because it's essentially a sanctuary from their predators.  Smart animals.  We continued our ride out to the Golden Gate Bridge and back.  As it was a Sunday, the bay was filled with wind surfers and sailboats.  The water is still probably right above freezing.  Nutters.

As we got closer to the bridge and heading out into more open waters, the boat started to get a little rockier.  Most of the people we in the bow of the boat taking pictures and enjoying the view.  The picture of Rob was the last one I captured before we hit the "big one" which splashed water up over the front of the boat soaking a number of people.  I thankfully had turned in the nick of time and stashed the camera under my jacket to protect it.  I don't think others were as lucky.  Of course, our captain gets of the horn and says, "As we move out from the bay, it's going to get rougher, please keep track of your children."  I really wanted to say to him, "No shit, really?"  Of course that one wave was the biggest we caught and the excitement was all over.  I found out that a ride like that makes me very queasy.  So I spent the rest of the ride trying not to toss my cookies into the bay.

After that fun adventure, we grabbed some dinner and made our way for a night at the airport hotel before leaving at o'dark thirty the next morning.  We had a lot of fun on our honeymoon and in our opinion it was a good mix of city/busy stuff and relaxing stuff.  Since we have come back from there, two of my new office mates (out of 5) and some friends of ours have decided to make that their vacation.  We had no idea it was so popular when we went, but we would definitely go back.  There's so much to do out there and we didn't even get to half of it.  We would have added a trip out to the Sequoia groves, but overall we got a good mix of everything.  :)  If anyone wants to go, we are happy to share what we know.