The View From Our Window

Since I made it to Rhode Island just in time for the biggest snowstorm ever last year, I figured that I might have a temperate winter this year. Nope. So here are a series of shots starting from Friday around noon and ending Saturday around three. 

Good thing we aren't planning on grilling anytime soon...

Happy 2016 and 1 Year of Marriage!

Before we get TOO far into 2016, it's necessary to stop and take some time to reflect on 2015. After all it was a big year and very good to us! We entered the year as newlyweds and ended it with our one year anniversary. I started a new job, and after Mike finished a long winter in Rhode Island he finally started his new job! I didn't want to forget all of the special blessings this year brought us, so here is me trying to capture it in a few different lists.

Traveling:

• Puerto Rico for our honeymoon (pina coladas enlightened us)
• Newport, RI while Mike was at ODS (snow mountains frightened us)
• Pawley's Island, SC for annual beach trip and lights festival (twinkle lights delighted us)
• Cumberland, Burlington, Raleigh, and Bealeton for family visits (the best North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland have to offer!)
• Abingdon, VA to see Emelie star in Anything Goes (we have many talented friends)
• Chapel Hill for Rachel's graduation (we realized that we're old)

Adult Points Won:

• Kelsey started a new job career coaching 
• Mike did real lawyer things
• Kelsey took an Amtrak for the first time
• One of Mike's coworkers did our wills and other important documents (This is actually the thing I'm probably most proud of. I obviously hate talking about death and anything requiring paperwork, so let's give Mike most of the credit for getting this done and getting me on board.)
• We paid off my school loans! (see YNAB below)
• Kelsey was in Pirates of Penzance and sang for her audition. Kelsey gets brave whenever Mike is gone. 
• We ran our first half marathon together! (Mike bled from the chafing and still immediately set his sights on a full marathon)

We also learned a lot about being married this year. Most of it is just a continuation of lessons we were already learning (with the renewed recognition that we'll be learning them the rest of our lives), but we started using a couple of pieces of software that made thigns a

• YNAB

• It stands for You Need A Budget and it is how Mike and I organized our finances once we combined them. It's software that follows the zero-dollar budgeting system and it has forced us to think carefully through our financial priorities. 

• Evernote

• Evernote makes it super easy for Mike and I to share articles, documents, and lists with each other and to hold onto them for future use. This will come in super handy when moving. I love using Evernote to meal plan and then starring the recipes we'll be using for the week so that Mike can find them easily. 

Our intentions for the New Year:

1. Getting better at meal planning! We aren't horrible. At some point when we both started working full-time, we began meal-prepping all of our lunches on Sundays. We could be a lot better, though. I want to reduce food waste, cut back on eating out, and also try new things to cook...for fun! We have so many awesome appliances to cook with, we might as well use them!
2. Taking the lead in making plans with other people (especially inviting people over to our place). Mike and I LOVE hosting our friends. However, since we've always lived in a group house environment, it can get kind of tricky to randomly have people over, especially in winter when we can't grill outside. We need to be better about planning these things in advance and taking the lead on hosting friends for parties or group evenings out. Although I generally hate learning new games, I like games once I've learned them, and I love our friends...so we're thinking of more game nights or trivia nights and Game of Thrones watching parties in our future!

Here's to a brand new year (of marriage)!

We loved ringing in the New Year with Brian and Kay....who are practically neighbors with us now!

Every Day is a Holiday

Kelsey is going to post a year-in-review sometime shortly after the New Year. At least, now she is, since I wrote that she was going to. I subscribe to the "if you build it they will come" mentality.

For the past month and a half we have been in full-on holiday mode. Thanksgiving potlucks, Christmas potlucks, work parties, friend parties, anniversary celebrations, Star Wars viewings, family gatherings in Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina.... I know, poor us. 

1789 found a table for us right where we said our vows.

They are very nice to us.

Bet you can absolutely guess which one we wrapped.

Kelsey let me try it once. I just put a whole gift in a Trader Joe's bag and stapled it shut. Apparently that is not the appropriate method. 

Kelsey's Christmas/Birthday/Anniversary Present Story

I have been waiting to tell this story because of the extent to which I wrested a great surprise from the ashes of abject defeat. I got Kelsey a number of small gifts for her birthday/Christmas/anniversary this year. I was told that I was not allowed to get her just one gift for all three, so I diversified and I think I did pretty well. For her real gift, though, I wanted to get her tickets to see Adele. Kelsey loves Adele, Adele just put out a new album, and Adele rarely goes on tour. I thought it was very fortunate, then, that Adele announced a tour that was coming to DC next October. Tickets went on sale on the 17th, and so I put a reminder in my calendar to get the tickets. 

A few days before the 17th, I realized that I would probably not get Adele tickets just by trying to call the ticket line on the 17th. I was not a math major, but I had a feeling that the tickets were going to sell out instantly. Also, I would be at work, so I shouldn't be on the phone trying to buy tickets anyway. My solution was to use the Amex concierge service for the first time ever. I called them up, asked them to buy tickets for me, and they took my seating preferences. They made it so easy to spend money, which is exactly why the concierge service exists. This was going to be a huge Christmasbirthversary surprise and Kelsey would have no idea that it was coming! She didn't even know that Adele was going on tour, as far as I knew.

So far so good, right? On the night of the 16th, I was telling Kelsey that I potentially had a great present for her. She told me that she thought she might already know, and I scoffed at the idea. Maybe she knew what was in the stapled Trader Joe's bag (it was a puzzle), but that was it.

"You know what is in the Trader Joe's bag, don't you?" I said.

"No.... but.... check your calendar." It took me about five seconds to realize that when I had posted a reminder to myself to purchase Adele tickets, that reminder had also gone to Kelsey because we are married and share electronic calendars or some stupid thing like that. I immediately crumbled in shame and despair that I had made such a rookie mistake.

That's the last time I plan anything.

So I told her about the concierge service and how they were going to try and get tickets for us, and she was very happy about the possibility of seeing Adele and tried to pretend like it was no big deal that she found out early. 

On the 17th, I saw online that everyone was freaking out about how quickly the Adele concerts had sold out, but later that day Amex let me know that they had successfully gotten me two tickets to the concert in my first-choice seating area. Hooray for the concierge service, but I was still bummed that it wouldn't be a surprise.

But then....

I did exactly this.

And I called the concierge service back one more time, thanking them for securing the tickets and asking if they could do me a favor that was sort of off-the-books.

Which I then sent to Kelsey, who was sad but understanding.

And then I said nothing about Adele at all until yesterday, when I told Kelsey that I had a belated Christmas/early birthday present for her and showed her our seats. Kelsey then buried her head under a pillow and cried for five minutes because this is the same woman who cried when I gave her a DVD of Tim Allen's "The Santa Clause" a few years ago. At the end of it all, I am no longer the worst at surprises.

So now we are looking forward to DC settling down for its long winter's nap. The weather has not been cooperating so far, but I have no doubt that we will have a January or February snowpocalypse of at least a half inch of snow. More than enough to shut down DC, at least. We wish everyone a safe and happy New Year!

Night of A Thousand Candles and Beaching in December!

Last weekend, Mike and I got to enjoy Christmas round #1 with his grandparents and dad in Litchfield, SC. This post has tons of pictures, so I will mostly focus on captions:)

Giant Christmas tree and American flag in Reagan where we got ready for our 4am flight.

The first night we were at Litchfield, we went to Brookgreen Gardens for the "Night of a Thousand Candles" which I had been looking forward to forever. It greatly exceeded my expectations, and is easily one of my favorite Christmas experiences. 

Candles on the water and lights in the trees.

Curtains of lights hanging from trees.

Mike brought along our nice camera and skillfully captured my moments of joy.

Yay!

Picture this, but in different color schemes, and absolutely everywhere you look.

Baboon statue chilling with some lights.

And then we found a snow machine...

Pure glee...

Sitting in the same butterfly chair I sat in over the summer:)

We tried to mimic the bear statues, but my tiny bear wasn't in the picture.

The water of this indoor sculpture garden was filled with cranberries!

This is what happens when you fill glass bottles with Christmas lights!:)

Outside with the Christmas lights!

Candle lights arranged to be a Christmas tree!

And then we found homemade hot chocolate and Mike took a picture of me trying to get to the marshmallows.

Picturesque reflection of lights on a pool.

Candles and lanterns.

Probably the biggest Christmas tree I've ever seen!

After opening Christmas presents with the grandparents. 

Pink sunset after a 70 degree beach day where we listened to Christmas music on the beach!

Nothing but blue skies!

It doesn't get any better than this in December!

Thank you so much to the Johnsons for having us down, picking us up from the airport, feeding us every day, and helping us to kick off Christmas to a great start!! It was such incredible fun!

Kels Goes Seaside

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go on a trip with GW's Office of Military and Veteran Services to Norfolk to tour the USS Cole! Members of my office were invited if they could get a day off of work and my supervisor graciously let me  I have never been on a ship before or on a base observing what military members do in a daily basis, so this was a once in a lifetime experience for me. 

It was a perfectly gray and rainy day at Norfolk Navy yard, so the ships really blended in with their surroundings.

I love how perfectly the ships blend in with the water.

We had a retired Admiral with our group who gave the Captain of the ship our GW VALOR (for veteran students) gold coin.

The Executive Officer of the ship, and our tour guide for the day.

Stars commemorating those who lost their lives on the Cole in 2000.

Trying to fit the whole ship in one picture.

Last look at the ship.

Sailors and flag at half mast.

Sitting in the Captain's chair.

This is not a picture I took that day, but one I took running at some point. I believe the flags were at half mast because of the Paris attacks. I'm sure I've run by this monument several times where the flags were at half mast, but this time really made me stop and feel grateful for the sacrifice of our service members and hopeful for peace in the future.