Big Smile!

Game 1 final score: Panthers 26 - Chargers 24!

A few bits of news...

I'm trying really hard to keep up with my current blogging routine. But I'm running out of material, what with not being able to snap a few dozen shots of the Capitol every day anymore. So, instead...here are a few things that I've found exciting in the last few days.

#1 - a new Chick-fil-A is being built about three miles from my apartment. This makes me very happy, but I realize that it may not matter to you. So on to...

#2 - Tim Gunn's Guide to Style is back...on October 2nd. Very excited to hear that he'll be joined by Greta Monahan this time around. Love her!

#3 - Confessions of a Shopaholic has a release date...but it's not until next February. I really don't get this whole idea of promoting a movie five months before the release. I'm more into the instant gratification thing, I guess. I've read each of the Shopaholic books several times over and Becky Bloomwood has me giggling every time. I tried really hard to find the movie trailer on YouTube, but it doesn't seem to be out there. I saw it tonight on tv, though...looks great!

Sorry, that's all I've got. It's about time I call it a night. Hoping for some better blogging material in the next few days!

These are a few of my favorite places

I took the day off work today, fully intending to clean and do laundry all day. Well, I got the laundry done (no thanks to a power outage mid-day), but the cleaning took a backseat to my latest home dec project.

On my last two trips (to California and DC) I picked one picture as my favorite and had it enlarged and framed it. Today, though, I decided to go through a bunch of old pictures and pick out pictures that represented my favorite places. The result is the wall that you see above.

The places range from Fair Park in Dallas to Arlington Cemetery. Some of them are widely recognized as beautiful, such as Alaska and the Bahamas. For most of them, though, such as Derby, Kansas and Culiacan, Mexico, the appeal lies in the memories. Still others wouldn't be recognizable to anyone but my own family...the backyard of the home where I grew up or the bird fountain in my grandparent's front yard.

Anyone who knows me knows how nostalgic I am. This is just the latest expression of that nostalgia. Call it a scrapbook on a wall, if you will!

Capitol City Day Four

Sunday was arguably my favorite day of this trip. We got up early and went to Mount Vernon. I've loved Mount Vernon ever since I first visited it, probably thirteen years ago. The estate has undergone extensive restorations since then, including a beautiful new visitor's center and museum. Before touring the mansion, we decided to take a Potomac River cruise. The views from the ship were incredible - views of the home Washington loved from the river he loved equally. I've now got a nice sunburn as a souvenir!After spending about six hours at Mount Vernon, we rushed to Arlington National Cemetery and were fortunate to catch the very last tour and the last changing of the guard. The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a very solemn moment. Before beginning the ceremony, the guard requests that all observers stand in silence. We also saw the Kennedy tombs, as well as the Challenger and Columbia Memorials, from a distance.From Arlington, we went to our very last stop...the Jefferson Memorial. This may have been my favorite of the memorials. I love the shape of it, which hints at the shape of Monticello.
We reached the Jefferson Memorial at sunset, so the views were amazing. This is the Washington Monument, viewed from inside the Jefferson Memorial. I sat on the steps of the memorial for about fifteen minutes, snapping all sorts of pictures, trying to catch what I wanted. This city is beautiful at dusk - the lights are reflected in the Potomac and the Tidal Basin.

It's been such a fun trip, but we're both ready to get home. I'm watching the news right now and praying that our flights aren't delayed. We're flying from Baltimore to Atlanta, then from Atlanta to Dallas. We'll be crossing the path of Gustav, so I'm concerned that we might run into some weather delays. But we'll deal with that as we come to it!

Rachael and Sarah Go To Washington - Day Three

This morning, Sarah and I woke early and headed back to the Capitol to pick up tickets. As we neared the Capitol, though, it became very obvious that we had not woken early enough. The line for tickets would have taken us at least an hour. We decided that we'd really rather see Monticello. So...we hit the road towards Charlottesville. We got stuck in some traffic for the UVA/USC game, but we weren't in any real hurry.

I'd never been to Monticello before, and I loved it. James Madison once said that there were few houses that exhibited their owner's personality so well as Monticello did Thomas Jefferson's. The house has many elements hinting at the time that Jefferson spent in France, as well as his love for science, books, gardening and architecture. Monticello is situated on a mountaintop near Charlottesville. The views are most likely the reason that Jefferson chose the location. In one direction, there is a magnificent view of the Blue Ridge mountains and in the opposite, the University of Virginia (which Jefferson founded in his retirement) can be seen.
After we finished the tour, we headed back to Washington, intending to stop at the Jefferson Memorial. We got back to DC at ten, though, already tired. When we discovered that we would have to walk a half-mile from our parking spot to the memorial, we decided to nix that plan for tonight.

So, tomorrow's plan is to visit Mount Vernon, Arlington Cemetery and the Jefferson Memorial. I'm very excited for all of this. I love Mount Vernon and I've never visited either of the other destinations. Should be another fun day!

The monuments are whispering your name

That's a line from a song by Matt Wertz, one of my favorite artists. The song is "Capitol City" and I've been humming it a lot the past two days. I've also been picturing lots of clips from "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"!

The last two days have been jam-packed. Yesterday we started out the day intending to go to the Capitol, the Library of Congress, Union Station, the National Archives and all the memorials. We started the day by walking to first the Washington Monument and then the Capitol to get tickets. We then headed towards Union Station for breakfast, but encountered some pretty heavy rain. We ducked into this little straw-bale house at the Botanical Gardens to wait it out. Here was our view of the Capitol...

While waiting it out, we decided to change our plan, due to the weather and opted to walk over to the National Gallery of Art.

We've still only seen the East building of the Art Museum. If time allows, we'll go back to see the West building. Jackson Pollock is all well and good, but I want to see some Monets.

From the Art Museum, we walked over to the Holocaust Museum. We fully intended to go to the Washington Monument afterwards, but we spent three hours in the Holocaust Museum and missed our ticket time. It was worth it, though - the Holocaust Museum was incredibly moving and thought-provoking. There was no photography allowed, though, so I have no pictures.

Day Two - The rain let up a little bit today, so we decided to follow through on our original plan for yesterday. That meant a LOT of walking. According to Google Maps, we walked about 12.9 miles today, and that's not even counting the walking we did inside buildings.

We overslept a little this morning and missed the window of opportunity for Capitol tickets. That's okay...tomorrow is another day! We did manage to see the Library of Congress...

...the Supreme Court...

...Union Station for lunch...

...the National Archives...

...the Washington Monument...

...the World War II Memorial...

...and the Lincoln Memorial.

It's been a long day and our feet are aching, but we'll be back at it again tomorrow. The plan is to go to the Capitol first thing in the morning and then drive to Charlottseville to visit Monticello. Drive...yay. That means a little rest for the weary feet!

If you're looking for a few more pictures, check out my Facebook albums. They're at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=53678&l=e6d07&id=778399337 and http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=53749&l=5ff9e&id=778399337.

I'm Back!!!

After a very long hiatus, I've rejoined the blogging world. Just a note on the last post, though...Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is now out on DVD. So...if you didn't heed my advice to see it when it was in theatres, rent it...tonight!

Last Thursday, Mel and Gina and I went together to a free(!) Dave Barnes concert at FBC Dallas and thoroughly enjoyed it! Mel and I both got to hear our favorite songs...On a Night Like This and Greyhound.


This week, I'm in Washington, DC with Sarah. We've got a full day of sightseeing planned for tomorrow, so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. We've already established, though, that Rach does not handle driving in a new place very well. After hearing "recalculating" about twenty-five times from our GPS (whose name is Shaniqua) and hearing from Sarah multiple times that I was way too stressed, I reached a decision...I will not be driving the remainder of this trip! Nope, Sarah gets that pleasure...Shaniqua and I are strictly navigators.

A note from your social secretary

Please add this to your social calendar for the coming weeks - you must go see this movie!

I went to see it last night and I think it's safe to say it was the best chick flick I've seen this year...and I've seen a few! I believe it's just in limited release right now, but you can find it at the Angelika or AMC Select theaters.

What's in a name?

I love these things!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car): Buddy Outlander
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME (fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): Cookie Dough Heels
3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Green Dog
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): Leah Baltimore
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name):Deara
6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Orange Diet Coke
7. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers): Roscoe Luther
8. STRIPPER NAME ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent,favorite candy):Daisy Reese
9. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Denver Deatherage
10. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Autumn Poppy
11. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing rightnow):Apple Slacks (get it...play on Apple Jacks?)
12. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Nothing Willow

Unwinding

It's been a crazy week at work. Nonstop. But now it's over and I'm unwinding in front of my computer. My relaxation strategy?

Step 1 - Catch up on Eli Stone. (I've loved Johnny Lee Miller ever since he played possibly the most believable Austen hero - Edmund Bertram in Mansfield Park.)

Step 2 - Wait with bated breath for the next installment in Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love Story. Still waiting.

Step 3 - Browse Etsy for some fabulous finds. And this is where the real fun begins.

I know these are slightly creepy, but I love them.

And this...you're definitely going to see this gracing my walls before too long.

And one last priceless little gem:

Step 4 - Look for a new blog template. Yup...gotta get cracking on that. Update: Blog updated...and I love it!

Hope

I don't know that I've ever been able to honestly say that I'm eagerly awaiting Christ's return. While I hope for it, a little part of me always thinks "But what if He comes before I get married...have kids...do this...go there?" That's changed recently, though, as I've begun to identify more and more with this passage:

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. Romans 8:22-23

Last night, my grandfather died. He had a stroke on Tuesday, so I've had a few days to grieve and I've found comfort beyond explanation.

My comfort is in knowing that my sweet grandfather is not only in his Creator's presence, but that he no longer groans inwardly or awaits his redemption. He's been redeemed, he's complete in ways that my human mind can't even imagine.

On Tuesday, as I drove to my parent's house to see my family, I prayed for comfort. As often happens for me, I found it in a song. This is "Love Wins" by the Robbie Seay Band and it sums up all of my scattered thoughts beautifully.

It's a big world, we are hoping
For a big change, we are broken
In the fading light of a dying sun
We cry for redemption

There is hope, there is hope, there is hope
But everyone who's lost will be coming home
And everything that hurts will be whole again
And love will be the last thing standing

Can't stop, you can't stop the seasons
Don't stop, don't stop believing

Keep on dreaming of the day when it all will change
Believe in the end, love wins
If you're waiting for the time when the sun will shine
Oh look above cause love wins

If it hurts you, just breathe in
When it pains you, just believe in
The radiant light of the morning sun
We can find our redemption

Love is strong, love is strong, love is strong
It's been there holding you all along
Everything thrown away will be new again
And love will be the last thing standing

There is hope, there is hope for my lonely soul
There is hope, there is hope to be made whole
There is life, there is life to be set free
There is life, there is life surrounding me
There is hope, there is hope for my broken heart
There is hope, there is hope for a brand new start
There is life, there is life, give me eyes to see
There is life, there is life, You have captured me

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today's my mom's birthday! Like most of the best-laid plans, it's not turning out exactly as she hoped, but nevertheless, I wish her a very happy day. She deserves no less.

I've got to take a minute to brag on my mom just a little bit. She's an incredible woman. Here's just a few items on her resume:

• She's an incredible mother - willing to let her kids be themselves and encouraging them to fly on their own.
• She's a devoted wife, sticking with my dad for almost 27 years and supporting him every step of the way.
• She's had a long career as a teacher - I think this year marks twenty years. She's taught K-12, all subjects and has had three kids graduate so far.
• She's easily the most talented person I've ever met - a great painter, seamstress, writer, decorator, cook, baker, scrapbooker - she's the complete package.
• She's had numerous part-time jobs over the years - teaching painting, booths at craft shows, working retail and sewing home dec projects.

Over the past couple of years, Mom has found the one thing that I think gives her personal satisfaction, as she's joined the children's ministries staff at church. She loves those kids so much and she loves her volunteers maybe just a little bit more. I've never seen her so excited about something - she can barely talk about anything else.

It's been an absolute joy to be my mother's daughter these 24 years, but it's been an even greater joy to be her friend these past few. Thanks, Mom, for all the love, support, encouragement, girls' nights out, listening ears, crops, advice, laughter, tears...thanks for being more than just a mother, but my Mama! I love you!