Jejeje

"Women don't want to hear what you think. Women want to hear what they think - in a deeper voice."
Bill Cosby

Oops, Missed Maine

Well, I got within a mile of Maine, but I didn't have even half an hour to go run across the bridge and come back. It's probably for the best; I wouldn't have done Maine justice by running across a bridge and tapping my toe on the other side. Kind of like I probably haven't done Canada justice by crossing the border at Niagra Falls and looking in a gift shop. But I still color in all 3,855,103 square miles of it on my countries-I've-been-to map. You've got to take what you can get in this crazy world.

State Hopping

Well, after this weekend (I'm traveling for work again), I will have been to all of the states you see below in RED. Thursday I'm hitting Vermont, and Friday I'm hitting New Hampshire and Maine. Sweet! The only problem is.....


Can anyone see that speck of white in the middle of my beautifully RED East Coast? That would be Rhode Island. It is now the next state on my list that I am determined to conquer. I just can't figure out why I should go there, other than being able to color it in. Any suggestions? What's kickin' in R.I.? And WHY is it called Rhode Island?

Sneezy

I humbly declare today: Gain-an-appreciation-for-chronic-allergy-sufferers-Day! Glech! I've been having sneezing fits all day, my head feels like it's going to explode, scratchy throat, stuffy nose, can't think straight.....you name it. I don't know what's come over me, but all I can say is, allergy sufferers are definitely under-appreciated. No respect. I mean, look at Sneezy, the Fifth Dwarf (well, I don't really know if he's #5, but neither do you! Thus supporting my claim that he is under-appreciated). Doesn't get any good lines, just sneezes....and sneezes....I think even Sleepy is more exciting than Sneezy. Who wants to laugh at someone sneezing all the time? It's just depressing. Poor Sneezy.

So to all you allergy sufferers out there.....I respect you. I doubt that respect will help you overcome your sneeziness, and I can't even give you empathy because I'm hoping this is a one-day thing for me, but just know that you have won my admiration, and if this does become a chronic problem (heaven forbid), I shall be glad to find myself among your ranks.

I can't believe I just wrote a whole blog post on sneezing.

Back to Blogging

OK, I'm going to try to do a little better at blog posting since I found out this week that my readership has increased from 6 or so to 7 or maybe even 8!!! Thanks, friends! I'm finally understanding the feedback cycle: if I write more, maybe more folks will read, and if more folks will read, maybe I'll write more.....





By the way, if y'all haven't checked out the GoogleReader function, it is spectacular. It is how I see if my friends have updated their blogs, AND often how I browse through the NYTimes, BBC, The Onion, ESPN, Mexican newspapers, heck, even the LDS Newsroom has an RSS feed! Give it a shot.

Well, I SAW WICKED THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are not enough exclamation points to describe it..............

More Crazy Good Times

Well, I know there are at least a couple of you out there who read my blog every once in a while, so.....these pictures are for you! It's been awhile, I know, but trust me -- there haven't been many lovely things to take pictures of. The winter here has been kind of blah weather-wise, just gray and ugly. But finally, the sun is starting to appear every now and again! So I've been outside taking advantage of D.C.'s wonderfulness. Here y'are:

The Capitol! Early on a quiet Saturday morning. Sigh.

This is Greg and I getting ready to go up the Washington Monument (my first time since I was 4!!!!) That's Lincoln in the background.

Here is a view of the White House from the top of the Monument! Ay!

This is a drum and fife marching band at Mount Vernon on President's Day. GW was there himself to celebrate! The band was totally my favorite part, though. Ten, hut! Dress right!

Greg and I at Mount Vernon. It was SUNNY! I got SUNBURNT! (Even while wearing sunscreen)

The Potomac. It doesn't get much better than that. Ay, que fabuloso!

Crazy Good Times

Well, these are crazy times 'cause a million things are happening to me at once, but they're good times because the million things are all good! As you can see above, I am having a blast in D.C. That's a picture of me at the LDS Temple in D.C. The green tree behind me is a product of a few hours of volunteer work by yours truly. I went with a group this year to help put the lights on the trees for the annual Festival of Lights. And we did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself.

Other good things? I cleaned up one of my college papers (with many revisions by many good friends...thank you all!) and it will be published in February in the Journal of Intelligence and National Security. Ay!

I also passed the Foreign Service Oral Exam (the second part of a long and tough process). It doesn't mean an instant job offer, but it does mean I'm one step closer to a long time career dream.

Work is going super well. I'm staying busy, thinking up my own projects to do if I run out, and making friends! Aw. I also got to go to Hawaii to support a conference.



This is a picture of me at Pearl Harbor on Pearl Harbor Day. A very neat experience. But since I understand not everyone is as obsessed with historical sites as I am, here is a more picturesque picture:


And another:

So life is good. Yup.