Smithsonian Museums

I love to go to museums by myself because I can go at my own pace, explore and study the Art that I enjoy. Now after stating this I would never turn down the chance to go to a museum with anyone who would like to go. 

One of my favorite things about Washington D.C. are the multitude of Museums. It is difficult to get through them all in a week let alone two days.  So I picked the ones that I had not been through yet.

Monday morning was cold and dreary. It was a great day to be spent indoors. Armed with cold medicine, plenty of Kleenex and cough drops, I was ready to put a dent into a few of the museums on the Mall.  

It was 9:30 when I arrived  and the museums weren't open yet. I wandered over to the US Capitol building to pass the time for a bit.  The front steps were closed, they were preparing them for the Inauguration (YIPPEE!) I roamed around for a bit and then noticed the U.S. Botanic Gardens, It was the perfect place to warm up and see beautiful flowers. The plants and flowers were amazing. 

Afterwards I walked over to the east wing of the National Gallery to spend time with with the likes of Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky, and Braque and the exhibition from Pompeii. After seeing everything I could possibly see I went down to the cafeteria and ate a bland piece of pizza, I needed nourishment for the west wing.

The West Wing of the Gallery is huge. Most people have never seen every piece of work but I was determined to. I spent several hours and managed to see every room. I only managed to get lost once.

I then walked over to the Natural History Museum.  At this point I was waning a bit but I really wanted to see this one. It was really crowded! I managed to see most of what I wanted to. However large school groups of adolescents (a nightmare of mine something about squealing girls) and my cold medicine waring off I decided that it was time to call it a day.

I wandered through the sculpture garden up to a Starbucks for something warm to drink. It was nice to sit and relax. My wanderings brought me close to the White House so I stopped by to wave farewell.

It was a fantastic but exhausting day. 

Tuesday I started again. I rode the Metro in for the National Portrait Gallery. This is not on the Mall but I highly recommend it. It is a gorgeous building with much to see. The Hall of Presidents is amazing. 

It was a drizzly day as I walked out side to find something to eat it started to pour. I didn't care I really like the rain. It was Tuesday and Starbucks was giving out free drinks to those who voted. So I went and enjoyed a Hot Chocolate as I watched the world go by. It is very interesting to watch people in the rain.

Afterwards I trekked down to the Holocaust Museum. I am so happy that I was able to fit this one in. It is such a sobering experience.

I headed back in time for the election results to start coming in. There was an electricity in the air and I was giddy with anticipation (that is between hacking my lungs up). With Pizza ordered in Dave, Brooke and I started the long night glued to the T.V. If I were only feeling better I would have loved to be down by the White House. It was the perfect ending to two great days spent the way I wanted.

The pictures below are from the first day. For some reason I didn't take any pictures on the second day. It wasn't necessary.

National Day of Listening

I have blogged about how much I love StoryCorps. Well from that post I received the below message. I will hopefully have time to participate on November 28th. I am looking forward to listening to my parents, sister and niece. If you have time I think it would be fun to participate.

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for listening and for featuring us on your blog! It is wonderful to see these stories gain new life through the people who read or listen to them and pass them on!

I wanted to write to let you know about a new StoryCorps initiative you and your readers might be interested in. StoryCorps is asking the whole country to set aside one hour on Friday, November 28th, the day after Thanksgiving, to record a conversation with a friend or loved one. We're declaring this day the National Day of Listening. We launched a website (www.nationaldayoflistening.org) with more information and tips for a Do-it-Yourself style interview as well as a video that walks viewers through an interview scenario. Since so many Americans aren't able to make it to a StoryCorps recording booth, we're making it easier for everyone to share this experience in their own homes.



Again, thank you for writing about StoryCorps! We hope you will join us in celebrating the National Day of Listening, and share these Do-it-Yourself tools with your readers, family, and friends, helping us make the experience of listening as an act of love even more accessible.


All the best,
Amy Weinfurter
Communications Project Assistant
StoryCorps

Gorgeous Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

I have mentioned La Blogotheque before. It is a favorite of mine and the Fleet Foxes are quickly becoming so.

Jefferson & Lincoln Memorials

I wanted a low key Birthday day and that is what Dave and Brooke delivered.  Church in the morning and lounging in the afternoon.  The one thing that I absolutely wanted to do was to see the sunset from the Lincoln Memorial. Apparently it is a beautiful site.

It was a chilly and cloud covered day but we headed over there anyway. We first went over to the Jefferson Memorial, then the WWII Memorial and lastly the Lincoln. The clouds never dissipated but it was still a wondrous moment spent with Dave and Brooke sitting on the backside watching the cars go by.

Afterwards Brooke and Dave treated me to yummy Italian food and with full belly's we ordered dessert to go. They sang Happy Birthday and we enjoyed Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Cake. It was pure Bliss!

Isn't my sister in law gorgeous?!

Dave and Myself with the Jefferson behind.

Dave and Brooke...aww!

Lincoln from the WWII

My favorite moment...waiting for the clouds to clear.

The Power of Suggestion

At this very moment I am eating a DoubleStuf Oreo. Drat, I try to stay away from them because I have no control.

Yesterday morning I was speaking with my niece Ali and asked her what she was eating for breakfast. It was DoubleStuf Oreo's left over from her B-day party. So when I went shopping later I picked up some. NO SELF CONTROL! My thinking was that I would take them to the potluck last night or the picnic today. They never arrived at either event. Instead I have been munching away. I think my stomach is going to hate me. 

Thank goodness some of the kids at church helped my get rid of most of them.

Contradiction

This weekend has been gorgeous. 80 degrees and sunny. It as if summer has begun again. Thanksgiving is a week and half away, the fall colors have arrived, however yesterday I was at Bay Street and this is what I saw:

Along with the warm weather, the Hip Hop competition below and the Christmas tree it was a pretty surreal moment.

Arlington National Cemetery

I know it sounds a bit macabre but I love cemeteries. The older the better. For me they are one big park.

So spending part of a gorgeous Saturday at Arlington Cemetery was pure bliss. It is so large that there is no way to see it all. We didn't have a lot of time but we made a point of seeing the Kennedy's and the changing of the guard.

It a a beautiful place. I would love to go back again and spend more time.

The eternal flame and the Kennedy's. This photo was difficult to get there was a Japanese school troupe in the way.

General Lee's Mansion...There were so many dead during the Civil War that they started burying them on his land. His son sued the government because they ruined his inheritance. They paid him off and bought the rest of the land.

Happy Birthday Alexandrea!!!

Today is Ali's Birthday! Ali and I are November babies, it is so much fun to share with someone. Also she is 20 years younger so I always remember her age.

She is an avid book reader so we enjoy discussing our latest reads. I absolutely adore her not only is she a niece but a friend as well. She has a way of taking my hand me downs and making them look fabulous on her.

I can't wait until she visits in 2 weeks.

In my at the time brand new car.

Christmas '07...She asked that I post this photo just for M's face.

Have a FANTASTIC Birthday Ali...we will really celebrate when you arrive.

Love You!

Fabulous Birthday

This Birthday has been awesome! Many of you have sent messages and called. Thank you, I truly feel loved by all!

I had one wish for my birthday and that was to be at the Lincoln Memorial at sundown. Unfortunately there was cloud cover but it was still an awesome night. 

Wahoo!

Supposedly as an adult I should be freaking out about another birthday. What is so wrong with getting older? I love it. For the most part every year gets better.  I am so excited to turn 35!

A few reasons why:

1. As Addie pointed out I will have a longer Birthday this year than anyone else. Why is that? Because the time change happens to be the same day. I get to celebrate for 25 hours not just the boring 24. Thanks to Addie , I am looking forward to my extra long day.

2. I have decided to spend my Birthday in Washington D.C. with possibly 2 of the coolest people on earth.

3. The election is NOT on my Birthday this year. That was a sad birthday 4 years ago....sorry if you feel differently, but I was disappointed having to share it with W.

4. Getting a Georgetown Cupcake. Apparently they are the best thing ever. 

5. The Birthday celebrations have already started.

Alarm Clock

The day before a vacation is usually a really busy and bad day at work. Everything happens only because you are trying to get out of the office with as much done as humanly possible.
I planned on coming into work early to give myself some time should any "disasters" occur.

Instead my body decided to get sick, so when my alarm clock went off at an unreasonable hour I hit snooze, after several more times I decided that my body needed the sleep more than anything. So I changed my alarm to go off at the normal time and fell back to sleep.

An unusually loud bus passed my window and I startled awake. Thinking that it had been a very long 40 min, I took a gander at the clock. It was 7:24 am....NOOOOO! That is the time I try to walk out the door. I flew out of my bed grabbed my cell phone to call the office and hoarsely screaming that I was late. A-gril thought I was going to take a sick day, while momentarily speaking with her I glanced at my cell phone...it was only 6:45. REALLY....I had time to get ready with out calling in late. Instead of changing my alarm, I changed the time. Phew!

I rushed getting ready and started my commute 5 min later than usual. Traffic was bad considering I drive a reverse commute. I almost got into an accident in the Tunnel due to a driver who decided to come to a complete stop for no reason. Praying that no other car would hit me...listening to all of the squealing brakes behind. Then out of the tunnel a car decided it wanted my lane and just came over making me swerve into the emergency lane. My heart would have taken up permanent residence with my throat if there was room...darn sore throat.

I am now at work feeling at bit stressed out and hoping to turn this into a better day.

Halloween Carnival and Trunk or Treating

Last Saturday was the annual Primary Halloween Carnival and Trunk or Treating. It was so much fun! Our Primary President has so many decorations that the downstairs area is really transformed. The kids absolutely love it. I wasn't able to get many photos with my camera because I was manning the photo booth to get photos of all of the children on someone else's camera.

There were so many great and creative costumes. Mary Poppins, Madeline, A clone from Star Wars, Mad Scientist, Harry Potter, A pink flamingo, Skunk, Owl to name a few.

After a while the kids were let out to the back parking lot where a lot of the adults lined there cars up for Trunk or Treating. There were so many that the kids scored on candy (some even went around several times, taking advantage of the adults who didn't want the candy at home).

It was a fun night!

Britta and Shay...Arrgh Matey.

Jentri and Shane

Mary Poppins #1 (Addie), The other Mary Poppins is behind her.

Indiana Jones

We had the privilege of having Elvis in the building. 

Joseph as a Clone

Myself and Isaac (He was in charge of the Haunted House)