Day 3 - Capitol Bldg and Rene's Family

Today was our first day going into D.C. We took the Metro from my Aunt's house and stupid me got motion sick so we got off a little earlier than we wanted to... but it was okay, we did some extra walking. We were supposed to be meeting up with Rene's mom, dad and aunts to do our capitol tour around 2pm. Rene and I went to the Botanical Gardens which are right out front of the Capitol Bldg.... I dont know why, but we didnt get any good/close shots of the Capitol. Anyways, the gardens were pretty. We took quite a few pics of some really nice flowers, this is one I liked because of the leaves. I LoVed all the colors in the leaves!! :)

Rene's Aunt's were supposed to meet us at the Garden's but got held up at the National Library so we walked across the street to the Rayburn bldg to have lunch together before our tour. Rene and I took a small detour and got this pic of him with the refreshing fountain. (Did I mention that D.C. was good to us and the temp was only in the 70's with a breeze??!! )

After lunch, it was off to the Capitol. We had a tour from one of the interns in the PA office (where Rene's Aunt Joan lives - she got us the tour). We took this neat underground walkway from the Rayburn bldg to the Capitol. Once inside, we finally meet up with mom and Hal who had gotten slightly delayed.

Here's a pic of the inside of the dome... I thought the art work inside was just beautiful. I took a ton of pics but will only be posting a few of them. There was a lot of history painted within these paintings, but I cannot remember all of them. However, if you click on the photo and look really hard you may be able to find Benjamin Franklin - there's another dude right next to him that I think is supposed to be Thomas Jefferson, but I'm not sure. This painting went around the dome right at the top. What's cool is that it was done to look like the figures were actually sculpted. There's just so much detail. As you look around the painting, there are different parts of the nations history depicted. Oh, and the artist also painted himself looking out from behind a tree.

And just for some fun, in the Capitol they had gold water fountains so Rene had to drink from them. He said the water was gross though!! hahaha

After our tour, we headed over to Old Ebbits Grill for dinner where it's common to see politicians eating as well. It's been around since 1856 - That was something that was just really neat.... to look at some of these buildings and to think how old they were and how long they've been around. We dont have that back home and I kinda like it. Although, I'd much rather be living back home in AK :) Anyways, back to our trip.... Dinner was pretty good, although I expected the food to be 100 times better than it was due to all the hype but it was nice to be with family again. Afterwards we all went our separate ways to our homes away from home.

Day 4 - Museums and more museums

We tried to get all our museum visits done today... or at least all the ones we wanted to see that were close together. First stop, the Smithsonian - since this encompasses multiple museums, we stopped at the visitors center and then we were off. :) This place almost looked like an old castle or something. Inside, they have some sets from the movie, Night at the Museum. First stop, the Holocaust Museum. Once we arrived there were hundreds of school kids there, most likely every school for miles was having a field trip today, it was crazy. Normally there's no wait to get inside but they were saying the wait was up to 2 hours so Rene and I headed on over to get our tickets. Once in line, a gentleman in the front was calling for Military and Gov't employees. Rene looks at me, walks up and whammy, we get FREE tickets and dont have to wait at all!!! :) Rene was super excited and had fun telling others about his great luck. This was a wonderful stop, but man did I cry a lot! We were not allowed to take pics inside so I just took this one of the entrance. I would recommend everyone going here!!

Because we spent so much time in the Holocaust Museum, we had to cut out some of our stops. On our way to the Air and Space Museum, we went into the Frier Art Gallery (mostly Asian and Asian-influenced pieces) and then this modern sculpture place - Rene's pic and totally weird... no need to go unless you're into that kind of stuff. Anyways, it was getting late and the Air and Space Museum was closing early for a function (which we were unaware of) so we really had to walk through it fast. First of all, you walk in and there are all these different planes hanging from the ceiling.

We also really liked this beautiful wooden airplane, I believe it was one of the firsts... not sure at the moment and Rene's sleeping so I cannot ask him ;)

Now this pic was not planned, but it turned out well. I think it was a missile or something from WWII or so and it was huge. You can see Rene's reflection in the glass as a sort of reference as to how large these things are. yikes!

Oh, and this was fun! There was this thermal camera and Rene really had fun with it. Here he is with his thermal image. Neat-o

And lastly, this is supposed to be the container that held the moon rocks which were brought back. I dont know if any of you are the skeptics who dont really think we landed on the moon and it's all just some big conspiracy, but dont go popping my bubble! I like to think we did and so this was really neat. :)

Day 5 - White House

Rene and I were very fortunate to have the opportunity to tour the White House while in D.C. thanks to Mom and Hal. :) We had tried getting 'tickets' from our congress person here in Indy, but there really was no response. Mom and Hal were able to get some from Mark Begich's office, thanks again to them!! Unfortunately, they do not allow you to take anything into the white house so the only pic I have is this one we snapped doing a drive by one day. But, we were there! We were only permitted to see a couple of the rooms but it was nice. They had a secret service person in each room to answer any questions, and to keep us in line :) Can you imagine that though, being accepted in the Secret Service only to then be a tour 'guide'?? I figure they take turns or something.

After the White House, we went to the International Spy Museum (something Rene was looking forward too). And again, no pics were allowed inside.... what is up with that??!! It was neat, basically everything you see in James Bond movies is real... all that stuff, really used. I think we were there for 2 hrs or so and had to bypass a lot of things due to lack of time. If a person wanted to go and read everything, they'd have to spend an entire day there.

Our last stop was going back to the Air and Space Museum so Rene could do a flight simulator and get souvenirs. We had thought about walking around some more since we didnt have much time the day before, but after walking 10 hrs a day the past few days, we were all tuckered out! Back to the house to relax some.

6th and Final Day

Today was our last day in Washington D.C. On our way out of town we visited my Harmony (mom's mom) for the last time. She is so cute!! It was so great to see her again as the last time I saw her was about 12 years ago.... When we moved here to Indy, I told Rene that I really wanted to see my Harmony at least once while we were here. Thankfully, he's an amazing guy and let us do it. :)




After we saw her, we went to Arlington National Cemetery to see the changing of the guard. Below is the women's memorial.















Here are rows of graves where only one has flowers on it. I just thought it made for an interesting picture.















Now, Rene and I had kind of debated on whether or not we wanted to see the changing of the guard. Many people told us that was a must see... but why?? My dad sent me an email before we left for the trip about the guards and it was pretty impressive. Here are some of the fun facts :)
1. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has been guarded 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year since April 6, 1948.
2. Must be between 5'10'' and 6'4'', and they must be fit
3. Memorize 7 pgs of Arlington Nat'l Cemetery history
4. Their gloves are moistened to improve their grip on the rifle

Persistant...

For the past 2 weeks or so there's been this bird who sits outside the window in our front room and continually flies into it. We don't know what his deal is, but after being a little cute, it's grown a little tiresome. He likes to fly into the window and you hear this little tap, tap, tap. He's cute though... take a look.

@}---- Smell the Roses :)

Yesterday I received a phone call from my temp agency, the company I've been working for for about 7.5 months has laid me off.... Hello Unemployment!! The funny thing is, this is about a month since the last one when my friends were laid off.. I guess it was my time. It's okay though, I'm sure this is a blessing in disguise. Who knows, perhaps my dream job is out there waiting and this was the only way for me to get it... or, I could just start my own bakery!! Maybe not, but I'll keep dreaming. Not all is lost though, my sister Tammy is coming into town for a work conference and now I'll be able to spend some time with her. Then, Rene and I are going on vacation for a week!!! We'll be going to D.C. to visit my Harmony (grandmother), Aunt and her husband. We are also super excited because we are going to have the opportunity to tour the White House and Capitol.

Pathetic Stalkers

So Rene was out the other day talking to one of our neighbors across the street and found out that our neighbor to the right is a player for the Indianapolis Colts!!! When Rene told me this, I instantly thought, 'my new bff!!' Pathetic, right?? Anyways, since then we have wanted to meet this neighbor of ours more than anything... if nothing else, to verify whether or not its true. We think it may be a good possibility... he's hardly ever home, is a very big guy and drives a nicer vehicle. Yes, we know this doesn't mean anything, but our hopes are high :) Rene was out watering the lawn yesterday and our neighbor was hanging out on his deck. They both said hello in passing and Rene was trying to water as fast as possible. When he finished, just a few minutes later, he planned to go over and chat only to find our neighbor had retreated into his home :( I hope we can befriend this neighbor of ours!! LOL

In the new house.... Finally!!

It's been quite a while since the last post. We've been so busy with the move and getting ourselves situated, and not to mention waiting a whole week for AT&T to hook up our internet. Regardless, there's much to catch up on.

After we closed on our house, we began packing like mad to get ready for the move. We pretty much packed everything in 3-4 days! Amazing, right?? We planned on moving Saturday, April 18th which just so happened to be the day I was also doing the Race for the Cure. Here are some pics of the 'Race'...

Jeff Saturday (from the Colts) and his wife

Some of the hundreds, of thousands of people who participated :)

A beautiful day to walk.... this is just a bunch of people coming across the bridge

A look at all of our stuff... we (or rather the muscle...aka Rene) was able to get all of our boxes into this tiny room.

Oh, and I must mention these beautiful flowers from my good friends Corinne and Brandon as a house warming gift.

And now for...... ALL MOVED IN :)

So I am super excited about our front door... I don't know if any of you remember, but this was just a plain door with all these windows in it (about half the door). We wanted to cover the windows so you couldn't see in but didn't want shades or anything. On one of the many trips to the Home Depot, we found this stuff called Window Film... it sticks to the glass and provides privacy and helps to insulate the window. Well, I used it for our bathroom and front door. We love the door though because it really does look like stained glass!

The front room... just a nice place to sit, play some music, read or relax

Here's something a little strange about that room... the previous owners had this huge mirror put in. We looked at taking it out, but it would be just too big of a mess right now. The one plus is that it does make the room feel bigger :)

Our living room.... pretty self explanitory.

THE KITCHEN!!!!! Here's a view of our new table and kitchen....

and then while you eat, you have a nice view of the outdoors
Our master bedroom... it's huge!

and last, but not least is the loft... we are currently using as the workout area.

So, there's the house. Hope you enjoyed looking at it as much as we love living in it!!! :)

Whirlwinds and Rollercoasters

A very many things going on here... Monday rolled around and Rene and I were ready to close on our house. I got the time off from work, again, and it wasn't until I was home to pick up Rene we found out we were not going to be able to close. The story goes, we were supposed to close at 3pm but then we find out the seller had scheduled the closing appointment for 2pm so I took off an extra hour. Then our lender didn't have the appraisal paperwork completed in time and when they finally did have it all together the titling company couldn't fit us in. So they requested we reschedule for later in the week, some time after 2 pm... I told Rene there was no way I could do that as I've had to change my schedule about 8 times already. Luckily, they finally did something to accommodate us and made the appointment for the following Wednesday at 8:30am. Rene and I crossed our fingers that everything would work out this time.

If that wasn't enough, word gets around yesterday at work that there may be another lay off... this would make it like the 5th time or so, the last time being only one month ago. All of this was speculation as management doesn't tell us a thing, but it soon became a reality. A good friend of mine called me just 10 minutes or so after he left to inform me he was let go... No rhyme or reason for it, he was a great worker, did his job well and they needed him in his position. :( About a hour later, another friend leaves work and calls me and says he was let go too - and he's the father of 3 little ones... So much tension and uneasiness. I never got the call that night and I prayed that I never would.

This morning, Rene and I go to the titling company and we have signed all the papers!!!!! We are now Hoosier Home Owners! :) And on my way to work, no phone call! As of this moment, I still have my job but there are 9 people unemployed. It was such a bittersweet day.... It is quite the day for us to count our blessings.

2 Days Away....

There have been a lot of frustrations with buying a house... at times it seemed like we would never get a home here in Indy and be forced to live in our apartment. However, we can see the horizon.... We will be closing on the house this coming Monday, April 13th. :) Yesterday, our Realtor and Rene both went to the house (separately) to make sure things were in order. Unfortunately, our seller is out of town and will not be cleaning up the mess he and the plumber made, but we will close and have our home!! So, today after I'm done here at work Rene and I will head on over to the new house and do some spring cleaning. Currently, our yard looks a little white trash as there's trash all over the place so we'll be happier when that's all cleaned up. Once it's all cleaned, we'll be ready to move!! Rene will spend his Monday packing while I work and then next Saturday, the 18th, we will move into our home!! :)

Speaking of the 18th, Indianapolis is hosting the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I'm pretty excited because I will be participating!! I have joined with a group of ladies, some cancer survivors, some still going thru treatments and then friends and family. It's going to be a wonderful experience and I'm excited to be a part of it.