Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

Happy birthday, Mom! While the past several years have required us to live far apart, I've never once felt distant. Your love shines through everything you do, and you brighten every room you step into. God's given you a gift of bringing joy to people's lives. I love you, Mom!!!

Friends!

Last night, we had dinner with some friends from Florida. Danny and Laura are in the area visiting family, so it was a special treat to get together with them. It's always good catching up and having some good laughs. While we think it may be impossible, we hope to find some amazing people up here as we did down in Florida. I'll just have to resort to my sister, Holly's, method and stand at the edge of the driveway and call out, "Friends! Friends!" Perhaps it will work!
A picture is forthcoming...

The Sun Returns

We've experienced some cooler weather for the past couple of days, so waking up to the sun this morning was a treat. I must say the thunderstorms here aren't quite as magnificent as they are down south, but I'll always believe there's nothing like a cool rainy day. We love our northwestern weather!

Spring Has Sprung

We are thoroughly enjoying the spring--minus the allergies. While the trees have almost all lost their blooms and have flourished into gowns of green, the flowers have begun to emerge. It's so fun to watch everything grow! Our own little porch has provided something to watch as well...
They are small, but they're there...the Forget-Me-Nots are beginning to pop through the dirt. It's so fun to wake up each morning to see how many more are new.

I love these bright begonias--very cheery!

And look!!! A mini sunflower!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Night on the Town

Due to unthawed meat, we decided to go out to grab dinner last night. Our tummies took us near Old Town Alexandria, only to find the Pita restaurant was closed. So, we decided to head into Old Town to see what we could find. The drive was so fun because we saw so many of old homes. It's like going back into time. By the end of the night, we'd turned looney. Hopefully no one heard our singing from the car...


After dinner, we drove down King Street. It's always fun seeing the little shops and restaurants...very quaint.

Washington Masonic Memorial. We've yet to visit this place, but the building is absolutely gorgeous at night.

More Flowers!!!

Administrative Appreciation Week

A few of our executives took the receptionist and myself out for lunch yesterday in appreciation for our work. It was very thoughtful of them.

Now I have more flowers to grace our porch!!!

Reading Under the Sheets

When I was a little girl and all through growing up, I had one very bad habit of reading in bed. Some may think this is a good way to fall asleep, but for someone who loves to read, it's the worst thing to do. Once I start, there's no end until the last page is turned. Afraid I might get into trouble, I would read my books under the sheets with a flashlight. There's a wonderful feeling about staying up late until a book is finished. Last night was a repeat, though I wasn't under the sheets with a flashlight. Though I stayed up way too late to find out who the murderer was, boy did it feel good being a kid again.

Funny Looking Goldfish

One might think keeping goldfish alive is an easy task. I once believed this to be true, until I've seen five goldfish float to the top. It's odd--we have a nice tank with plenty of filtration. We use water treatment when changing the water, and I feed them twice a day. With some frustration behind our determination, we purchased yet another goldfish from Wal-Mart. Surprisingly, Speedy (named by Jesse) has lived for a couple months now! He is a simple fish, unlike any goldfish I've ever seen. So this weekend, Jesse and I tried getting the exact type of goldfish as Speedy, hoping they too would survive our love and care. Much to our surprise, we did find Speedy duplicates--and they are far from goldfish. No wonder they survive...they are minnows!!! Hahahahahahaha!

Pistachio Man

Weekends = Rest.
Jesse's new favorite snack is a bowl full of pistachios. And his favorite way to rest? Catching up on his favorite t.v. shows from the previous week.

Missing What We Don't Have

Not sure what it is about today, but I'm missing our friends and life back in Florida. It's silly how when we were there, I imagined a better life away from the humidity and cement fortress. But goodness, now I miss it all so very much. Our schedule, our friends and church family, my job, and the slower-paced life. This makes me realize that instead of complaining about the things I don't like here, I want to focus on what we do enjoy. I don't want to repeat this silliness.
Some fun at the Epcott Center

Costume Skate party with the middle schoolers. How we miss our friend Lynn!

Who would've thought we'd become NASCAR fans? Now that we live away from the racing city, we find ourselves watching races on TV! I do miss my NASCAR family.

Spring Fever

Our porch needed some sprucing up. I planted marigolds, begonias, and also some seeds for Forget-me-nots. My mini sunflower garden still hasn't sprouted, but I'm hopeful!

Last night, I was bound and determined to complete the puzzle we started on Monday. Jesse lost interest in it within the first few minutes, so I was on my own with this one. He'd gone to bed, and the clock was showing it was well after my bed time...but I just had to finish it. By 9:35, it was done--except for one piece. I couldn't find it anywhere, and went to bed wondering where it was. Well, this morning, I told Jesse the puzzle was missing a piece. That's when he said, "Look, I found it!" He'd stolen a piece before going to bed so he could be the one to finish it. The little stinker!!! He may have stolen the missing piece to the puzzle, but he's also stolen my heart. :)

Just Another Day

Somedays just seem more fitting for staying home and relaxing. But...nope, we go to work...

Let the Mind Rest

Sometimes a puzzle is just what the brain needs to unwind. While I should be in the guest room cleaning up and putting everything away, putting together a puzzle sounded so much more relaxing...plus, this way, I think of all the fun memories of Grandma Kursave. :)

Weekend Projects

Jesse surprised me by taking me to Ikea to pick out new bookshelves for the guest bedroom. We were in desparate need of book storage, and both of us were getting weary of the boxes stacked up in the corner. On Friday night, we ventured to Ikea and found just what we wanted.
Here's the tall book shelf, which surprisingly filled up quickly...I suppose a library is a must in our dream home some day.

Here's the wall of shelves with a desk attachment. Jesse loved this desk, and it works very well in the room. We'll work on the guest bed next month...

I've wanted to plant some flowers on our porch for quite some time now, but haven't had the chance to get to the store to pick them out yet. In the meantime, while moving everything around to make room for the new furniture, I found a little box that said, "mini sunflower garden." My mom is notorious for finding these little treat boxes and giving them as gifts. I planted my mini sunflower garden and am anxious to see how mini these little sunflowers turn out to be!!!

Hello, Pollen!

Black cars are a thing of the past. In fact, green and yellow seem to be the fad this spring! Well, not really. The pollen count has hit record-breaking numbers (which seems to be the theme for every season since we've moved here). Jesse coughs, I sneeze. With spring comes Claritin!

Taking Time to See

It's becoming ever apparent how life in the city means forgetting life all together. People wake up early to catch the train or to sit in traffic. They work all day long, most of them riding an elevator up to their umpteenth floor. They work late to avoid traffic, even though they'll still pass by over a million people on their way home. They grab their already called-in to-go order at their favorite restaurant and eat it quickly before heading to bed, only to start over again until Saturday. Last night, I drove to the Blockbuster to return a movie, and I caught myself distracted by the trees looming over the road. This is my favorite drive because the trees canopy over, and right now with the blossoms, it's so wonderful. I looked around and no one else was looking. They were either on their phone, looking at their GPS, or just staring blankly at the bumper ahead of them. Life isn't about the outcome, it's about what you learn and see to get there...

Tuesday Truth

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”- 1 John 3:16

What Do You See?

I was delinquent in photographing our Easter weekend at the Storms' home this weekend. To salvage the day with a post, I decided to share images of what Jesse and I experience on a daily basis...I apologize these aren't my own photos this time...perhaps a nice new camera would spark my desire to take more! :)
The day begins here at this nice apartment building.

Oh to drive on small town roads once again...

Spring has sprung here in Virginia!!!


The day wouldn't be complete without being cut off by one of these guys.

We wondered at first where all the people came from, until we saw that everyone lives in this type of housing...

At the end of the day, despite the traffic and the fast-paced lifestyle, we think it's absolutely beautiful here!

Basking in the Sun

We have a new morning routine in our home...sun bathing. Each morning, the sun rises and shines brightly into our apartment (it helps being so high in the sky). Bentley and Kolby begin chirping and get very excited, and then...they stop and sit still while they catch the rays. I suppose they miss the Florida sun. Haha!

Thank you, Japan

Last night, Jesse had the wonderful idea of driving into DC to see the cherry blossoms. Yesterday was the peak blooming day. It wasn't long before we realized everyone else had the same idea...This is what we were stuck in the whole time...


We were tempted to be disappointed about how busy DC was, afraid we weren't going to see much of anything but chaotic masses of bystanders...

Then we saw this...

No amount of traffic could keep our spirits down...goodness, just look outside the window!!!



This is Jesse being sick of driving in traffic, but me loving the scenery outside the car.


This is the best I could do with my drive-by photography. The Jefferson has some construction going on around it, but it's still beautiful!
This little adventure was lots of fun, and well worth the battle with traffic!!!