For the love of DC

How will I miss you City Life? Let me count the ways...

Nick and I have been faced with a difficult decision... to leave our sweet apartment in DC to live with my family and save money for a home. We are considering the long term benefits of such a move. But I will drastically miss city life.
My mom and I went to the zoo yesterday for a couple hours with the baby. It is less than a 10 minute drive from our apartment!! And it is free, and on-street parking is free for 2 hours or so. We saw the cutest red pandas that sleep curled up in tree branches! They are way more interesting and cute than the giant pandas in my opinion!!! Little Tai Shan gets all the credit. Anastasia was quite facisnated by the giant panda though... taking a bath in front of us. Do pandas ever eat people? I don't really see them as threatening. Perhaps that is to their advantage... "aw, look at the cute, cuddly panda bear..." *CHOMP!!*

It is great being able to walk to Whole Foods in the Spring, with all the flowers blooming. I will miss the easy access to Whole Foods and Trader Joes. I wonder why organic foods taste better? And they look so much better... aren't they supposed to be crawling with bugs since they aren't sprayed? It seems somewhat ironic.

My mom helped me plant flowers around our apartment building... and amazingly they are still alive 8 days later. Maybe I have some Czech quality genes afterall. I am half Czech... and Czechs farm. They are born with green thumbs and grow vegetables and fruits organically with ease. I thought I had the black thumb of death as far as plants are concerned. Every plant I seem to touch dies. Actually I love gardening afterall! I feel in touch with my roots for the first time and it is very refreshing!

I have a weekly crafting group which is awesome! I love the creative juices that flow at our meetings! Nick comes to hang out with my fellow-crafter Gwen's boyfriend Todd. They play chess and have philisophical discussions. We were there until 1 am last night. Even Anastasia is super well-behaved at craft meetings! I also joined a hip-mommies group which I will also miss if we move back to my hometown in Stafford. God has really blessed us where we are, but He has also blessed me with a family eager to help us out... and it just feels like the right move. I am so happy to have had this great city experience!

Armand's Pizza... you too will be greatly missed.

Happy Trails Andy!

Can you believe he is my little brother?

It is that time again! Andy (my younger brother) is setting out on another hike. He has already completed the Appalacian Trail, and half of the Pacific Crest... and he is only 21 (as of 6 days ago). I tried to pick up his backpack, and nearly fell over due to how heavy it is! I just can't imagine the limits you push your body to out on the trail. Hiking for months straight with a huge pack of everything you need to survive. He said you get used to it, and hiking all day becomes normal. Its awesome that he is following his dreams!

My brother, Leia and I went for a morning jog at 5:30am. It is nice to get back into shape after a year of being pregnant and healing from baby. There is nothing like a nice, invigorating jog in the wee hours of the morning before the city wakes up.

I love little naked babies! She gets more beautiful everyday!

Massacre Meanderings

The Tech Massacre is the very saddest thing. I am so thankful my best friend Tara, who was in the building next to Norris at the time of the shooting is ok. My cousin Grace is also alright. Tara took a class with Cho, and I remember how he had scared her enough by his creative writing and his picture taking that she stopped going to class. http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/042007/04182007/276754 I am really glad she is ok... but sad that 32 best friends, cousins and children are dead now.

Tech is such a great school, it is too bad that it will forever carry this baggage. My parents met at Tech and I was born not far from there in Christiansburg. If you have ever been there, you know that it is a beautiful, serene place. I used to visit Tara while she lived on campus, and thought it was a great place. We went rollerskating there once, and I ran off this ledge to avoid hitting people... and I scraped my knee really bad. I still have a scar. Atleast I wasn't shot.

Guns do not kill people. People kill people. People who need Jesus kill people.

"Amy's going back to school today
Elation, jubilation screams from her face
Did the halls smell of gunpowder still
What made the human heart dark enough to kill?
A new hope, Where is your freedom?
A new hope, cast off your burdens.

A darker world was behind this one.
Cryptic it hides beneath perception
We all saw it on that day
Stunned we stood stuttering
What did the news say?
A new hope, Where is your freedom?
A new hope, Here is your freedom... Hope.

Peace fills us, by hope we steer,
Our dark hearts salvage
We live without fear.
And a new hope... Jesus Christ."
-Five Iron Frenzy

The Joy of Owning a Dog

The power of the furminator. Need I say more?

Before we got a dog, Nick had me read a book all about huskies (Siberian Huskies for Dummies). The book stated that if you like a clean house, a husky is not for you because they shed a lot. The book mentioned shedding several times but could have never prepared me for the insane amount of hair that resides in my apartment! In Siberia huskies are supposed to "blow their coat" once a year. Washington DC is a far cry from Siberia. Leia blows her coat twice a year and I think she has begun to "blow" as you can tell by the pile of fur in the picture above that I brushed off with this amazing brush called "the furminator". Hopefully it will be a powerful weapon in keeping our apartment cleaner.

Man's best friend

On another note, we finally came up with a name for the jeep! "THE BLACK PEARL". Its perfect! Now we need to get a skull and crossbone sticker for the back! What a kick-butt vehichle!

Cherry Blossoms and Easter Eggs

Anastasia and her best friend.

There was a thunderstorm that wiped out all the cherry blossoms this year. My mom and I missed them and instead walked to the Jefferson Memorial with Anastasia and Leia. Anastasia slept through the adventure and Leia thought it would be great to go hunting. First it was pigeons! My poor mom held her leash as she darted after every pigeon. You would never know she was a city savvy husky. Next in the park ranger's tent, she assumed the furs used in a demonstration were fair game and almost grabbed one off the table. Moments later as we were walking she tried to grab a lady's fur coat who was sitting with her back to us. Lucky for the lady my mom grabbed Leia before leaving the women cold in the wind. At the lake she found ducks and paddle boats to invision in her mouth. There is never a shortage of wild game in the city. She was not defeated... she did kill a cockroach making its way across the floor at home. Good dog.

We went to the National Bacillica for Easter Mass. It was lovely even though we sat on the floor in the corner. Nick described it as "camping, except in a church". Afterwards I cut Anastasia's finger with nail clippers because I kept forgetting to do it while she slept! In my haste I cut her tiny finger and she cried bloody murder for a few minutes, which seemed like hours. Happy First Easter! I felt so bad. I rolled down a flight of stairs and an infant and I turned out okay. That is with the exception of being scared to death of roller coasters as a child. I had dreams "they" would kill my parents if I wouldn't ride a roller coaster. Who were "they" and why? I don't know. But it was quite a nightmare! I also had a recurring dream as a child of falling out of a hot air balloon. I don't know if that is linked to my flight down stairs... but it is an interesting thought. Hopefully Anastasia will only remember her first Easter as the beautiful mass, the Resurrection, her blue bunny from Grandma and Cadburry cream egg flavored milk. Happy Easter everybody!

Knit Pic

So knitting has become a new love of mine. This is the bunny I made just before Anastasia was born. It is a pastel yellow and super soft. Not perfect, but not bad for a first knitting project! Anastasia hasn't really showed much interest in it yet. People are far more interesting. I always wonder what the world looks like when you are seeing it for the first time.