24 Hours in D.C.

This past week I had the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C., to speak at a conference for work.  Before 2014 I had never been to our nation's capitol, but I have been three times since 2014 and twice in the last 6 months. I consider myself an expert at Metro travel at this point despite the fact that I feel compelled to check my Metro map app at every stop to see how many stops I have left.

Can you spot the Capitol?

I even tried my hardest to blend in with the locals this trip. Since it was just an overnight trip I opted to take everything I needed (dinosaur laptop that weighs as much as a box of rocks included) in just a backpack - black of course so I would not stand out - that I purchased the morning of my trip...I literally ran to Walmart at 7:15AM and bought it.

Little did I know the one thing that would have solidified my "local" status would have been my running clothes and shoes which were both left at home since it was just one night.  I don't think I have EVER seen so many people out running as I did the night I was there. I guess everyone has a lot of stress to burn off!

I got to my hotel around 6 that night, and headed out to do a little sightseeing. I stayed at InterContinental The Willard, and it was AMAZING.  I felt like a little country bumpkin walking through it...despite my blend-in-with-the-D.C.-crowd backpack. I mean this was the back door entry.....

                                                                                                   via

I was told that the Indian Head of State stayed there the day before and security was outrageous; I am still trying to figure out how I lucked in to getting to stay there. Oh and did I mention it's a block away from a house you may have heard of at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Yeah this house was right next door.

Because I'm not one to turn down a chance to see some sights I made the most of the daylight I had left to walk around the National Mall.  I started with the Ellipse, a grassy expanse just south of the South Lawn of the White House, continued on to the Washington Monument, took a detour toward the Capitol before realized I was going the opposite direction so I back tracked and made it to the far side of the WWII Monument where I could get a clear view of the Lincoln Memorial and then called it a night.  It doesn't seem like the all of the memorials and monuments are that far from each other, but you'll walk a good 10 mins between each one.

I did the entire mall on my first trip so I admired the Lincoln Memorial from afar.  I really wanted to go see the Korean War Memorial, which is probably my favorite one, but it was a good 20 minute walk from where I was and I still had to walk back to my hotel and grab dinner before it got dark.

One thing that really stood out to me this trip was the crazy number of people who were playing softball games right in the middle of the national mall. There must be a huge league of Hill Staffers and Interns because there were games being played on every open space of grass. Anyone who wasn't playing softball was running or biking.  Seriously, if you weren't, it was obvious you were a tourist.

Just a softball game in the shadow of the White House....nbd

I made it back to my hotel with just a bit of daylight remaining and scarfed down a burrito desnudo (burrito bowl) from a taco joint called District Taco right down the street.....it was delicious.

I was up early the next morning, but not for fun.  I had to go straight to my conference that was held at the National Press Club (which is also apparently a very important place).  As much as I wanted to sneak away to do more sightseeing, the day was full so I had to stay there. We finished up that afternoon and I headed straight to the airport to come home.  As much as I would have enjoyed having another night to explore the city, I was glad to be home with Eric and the pups 36 hours after I left them.

We have quite the weekend planned that is going to involve our newest "toy." I am sure I will come home with at least 100 stories about how this goes.....I know they'll be way too good not to share!

Turkey Day Weekend in Indiana

I'm sure you've already guessed by the title that we did not win our 3rd Round Playoff Game the week before last. Our kids played so hard, but we were clearly outmatched and lost 51-7.  Eric said that if we played that team again 10 times, they would probably win all 10 games.  As much as I hate to lose, I would rather lose like that 100 times than "lose" like we did in 2012.

Since we weren't playing football on Black Friday in Alabama, we packed up Beau (the trip would have been too much for Hawk and Peanut, and Beau would have done more damage at home) and headed up I-65 on Wednesday to my grandparents' house and my childhood hometown.

...and saw this along the way.....somewhere in Kentucky

By the time we arrived, my parents had been there about an hour and my brother had been there a couple of hours, and we had a nice little family reunion once my aunt and uncle and cousins from Chicago arrived that night. As much as the people enjoyed seeing each other, I think the pups enjoyed it even more!

It only took 10 minutes and 50 pictures to get this shot!

I can't remember the last time there were that many dogs at their house, but it sure was entertaining! They all got along really well and we basically had a giant dog park going all weekend. They'd romp and play inside until it got too rough and then we'd let them out where they'd resume.  They even took a dip in the pond in the 40 degree weather, multiple times.

Our Thanksgiving Day meal was fantastic! We had all of the classics with all of the fixins and we ate until we were absolutely stuffed.....and then we ate dessert. It was glorious!

Friday morning several of us ventured out to find some Black Friday deals. We were out so early we beat Chick-fil-a's opening, so we headed to a store to do a little shopping before we grabbed breakfast and headed to the mall. We really did find some great deals and most everyone out was in the holiday spirit!

These hats were probably the best Black Friday find EVER in the history of Black Fridays!

After shopping to our hearts' content we dragged our butts back to the house to relax, and stuff our faces....again!

Clockwise from top right: 1) Yard working; 2) My cousin in deep conversation with Beau ; 3) Mom and my other cousin cleaning the sun room roof 4) My cousin enjoying her coffee creamer....and I thought I loved the stuff!

Saturday was football day, and we managed to take in most of the important games....Ohio State/Michigan, Alabama/Auburn, Purdue/IU, etc., and we all began to part ways. We headed home early Sunday. As much as I hated to leave, I'm glad we went early so we missed most of the traffic and were only semi-zombie-like on Monday.

I always hate to see trips like this come to an end, they always remind me how blessed I am to be part of this wonderful, amazing family!

The grand kids with C & C! (We missed our NM cousins!)

The fam jam! (minus the NM fam)  

Side Note: Can you believe we got a picture with everyone smiling and all 3 dogs looking at the camera?!?  I didn't think that was possible!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

How Bout Them Tigers!

....heard all over town this week....

Well we've made it to Round 3, the unofficial midway point of the playoffs. The last time a team from THS completed this feat was in 1999, last century! I actually know someone who was on the team....a hard-headed 10th grader who thought he was pretty bad @$$, but lucky for me he turned out pretty great!

Yes I am talking about Eric, and now - 17 years later - he is coaching this team in their 3rd Round Playoff Game. It's crazy to think that the seniors playing in the game Friday were just turning a year old the last time this happened. Side note: we're old!

This is only the 5th time the school has advanced this far in the playoffs, and they've gone on to the 4th round only 2 times.  It's been 25 years since that happened. Needless to say there's a lot of excitement in our little town....the stadium is going to ROCKING (or should I say ringing) Friday night!

Unfortunately, most of our band is going to be in Chicago performing at a parade, but they've called in reinforcements from none other than Eric's and my Alma mater Huntingdon College (ironically HC is playing their first round playoff game in Chicago this weekend, too, but I am guessing the band is not making the trip), and hiring a DJ to amp up the atmosphere!  I can't wait!

The game this past Friday could not have gone any better than if we'd planned it.  After a tight first half we started piling on the hits and the points and the other team just couldn't handle it.  We recovered 2 squib kicks from the exact same spot, scoring on both possessions, and 2 other times when we kicked off to them, they threw an interception on their first play from scrimmage.  It was just one of those nights, and we came away with a win 42-14.

I am hoping we can get things to go our way again this coming week....the team we're playing is good, so we're going to have to play hard. That's the thing about this team this year though, they are a tough group of kids.  They have guts, and they're willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.  It's been really fun to be a fan of the team this year because they've really given us something to cheer for!

...and to think we almost weren't a part of it.

This is the best I could get of the scoreboard....they cleared it as soon as the clock hit 0:00

GOOOOOO TIGERS!

On to Round 2!

Well we're on to Round 2 of the playoffs! We had a wild and crazy ride Friday night but we pulled through at the end to win 29-26! We started off the game really strong and had a 21-6 lead at halftime, but things went south from there.

The pre-game spirit line was on it!

We couldn't do anything on offense or defense during the 3rd quarter and by the end of it were hanging on to a 1 point lead 21-20 going into the 4th. They scored quickly early in the 4th and by the time the clock got down below 3 minutes I had started rehearsing my sympathetic-wife comments in my head for after the game.

However, a blocked punt that just happened to bounce right in front of one our kids proved to be all we needed, as he scooped up the ball and ran it back for a TD...and miraculously no one was called for a block in the back! We completed the 2 point conversion to go ahead 29-26 with 2:22 left in the 4th! An interception sealed the deal and we ran out the clock for the win!

Coach Cagle giving some last minute pointers to his D-linemen.

I can honestly say my nerves were shot by the end of this one.  I think I went through nearly every emotion I have in the last 3 minutes of the ball game.  We are headed just down the road for Round 2 against a former region foe who we've played a lot in the past several years.  So we'll have to see how this one plays out! You never know what might happen in the playoffs!

By the time we made back to the house we were elated but absolutely exhausted! Eric was on a hunting trip in South Dakota all last week and got back into town at 3:30 AM Friday morning so the first time I actually saw him was at the game that night. I am honestly not quite sure how he was still standing....it didn't last long.

Saturday was spent watching college football at various locations.  Eric headed over to a friend's house before the Auburn game to help him cook fish and shrimp and oysters for the game, and as much as I enjoy football, I had a few things to take care of around the house, so I got my stuff done, ran by Eric's grandma's house to show her how to use her new iPad, and stopped by some friends house to watch the rest of the Auburn game before we all loaded up Ethel and headed over to where Eric was.

Who is Ethel, you ask?  Well she is our friends' mom's conversion van.....like 90s mom van that you could fit all of your bedroom furniture in van, owned by most parents who had 3 or more children in that decade.  It even still had the TV and VCR in it.

She is a pretty sweet ride!

We figured why take 5 cars over to where we were going when all 7 of us could fit in the van. I knew Eric was over there so I could ride back home with him and we could get my car later. Needless to say we all spent 20 nostalgic minutes riding through town in the van, and probably gave people something to talk about when we stopped at the gas station and a bunch of 30 year olds came tumbling out.

After several hours of good food, music, and football Eric and I peaced out at halftime of the Alabama game. We made it home to watch the second half on the couch, although I dozed off and missed the entire 4th quarter, and woke up to find out they'd won when Eric woke me up to go to bed.

Sunday was full of church, laundry, household chores, and chili-making because the temperature dropped below 80, so I decided it was time for comfort food. I feel like this is where I should insert my obligatory daylight saving gripes......but I will spare you all of my reasons I think daylight savings is dumb, and just put out there that the dogs were up at 6:30 AM (like they usually are), however, due to the time change my clock read 5:30 AM....on a Sunday. Don't worry they managed to get caught up Sunday afternoon.....