Alexandria, Virginia

Greg and I spent a long weekend visiting our friends, Jessica and Evan, in Alexandria, Virginia.  I kept saying that they lived in Washington, DC, but it is actually Alexandria.  Jessica's family lived next door to ours growing up so we have been best friends since the day Jessica was born creating all of our childhood memories together.  Dr. Jessica and her husband, Dr. Evan, both graduated from St. Louis College of Pharmacy and she is completing a residency, while Evan is completing a fellowship in the Alexandria area.  Yes, they are both doctors, and it's weird saying that, but they have both worked so hard to get that title. 

We didn't care to see much of the monuments in Washington DC; we were really there to see them and do what they do on a regular weekend.  On Friday, Jessica and Evan worked so Greg and I went to the Washington DC Zoo.  It was quite the trip to get there.  We drove into the city, and then took the Metro up to Washington DC.  The Metro stations were so much nicer than those in New York.  Very open and might I say, a bit cleaner...  We rode down and up a gigantic escalator, which later Evan informed me was the 3rd longest, continuous escalator in the world.  And no Greg wouldn't just let me ride it down and up, he made me keep moving while we were on there.  I was very out of breath when we got to the top, but others were impressed with our athletic abilities, they were just too afraid to complement us.

The entire day was a little foggy with low lying clouds, and by the time we finally got to the zoo it decided to rain on and off.  Jessica and Evan warned us that the zoo was very spread out and not many animals were out when they went, and we had the same experience. 

 Like us, Jessica and Evan are lovers of wine so we headed further West into Virginia on Saturday to visit a couple of wineries.  Jessica read a blog for the best winter wineries in Virginia that mentioned some that had fireplaces; however, it was sunny and in the mid 60's on Saturday, so it was nice to sit outside and enjoy the sun.  The Appalachian Mountains were beautiful!  We tasted wine at the first place and got a bottle to split at the other two wineries.  The first winery was Naked Mountain Vineyard & Winery.  They had a really good Chardonnay and my new favorite, a Cabernet Franc.  We didn't stick around too long and headed to Delaplane Cellars and purchased a Syrah.  This place had a large windows overlooking the vineyards.  We were able to sit outside in the sun and play some games.  The third winery was La Grange, which is known to be haunted, but we only experienced the haunting of what we thought was "stink" bugs which were crawling on the window behind us as we drank our wine and 2 of them decided to follow us home.  We bought a Cabernet Franc at this winery.  Evan was nice enough to drive us home, while the rest of us took a nap.

On Sunday, we went to a coffee shop and spent some time on our computers and walked around to some of the shops in downtown Alexandria.  On Sunday, we ended up in the same area going to a good BBQ place and a Crate & Barrel Outlet store.  Jessica wanted to take us to one of her favorite happy hour places there, but it was closed, so we headed straight into the city to go to a bar that Greg found that had trivia.  We had so much time to kill that we went to another coffee shop in between.

We got third to last place in trivia, but I thought we did pretty well considering we were probably the youngest in the bar. 

It was really nice seeing the both of them and a nice start to our year.  

 

 

Change in the New Year

Well, it came and went just like it does every year.  There is so much hype about Christmas and excitement leading up to the day where you get to visit family and open presents, and then it goes away.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy every chance I get to see our families and I got a lot of really great gifts that I'm so thankful for, but Christmas is that one holiday that is perceived to be extra special because it has the belief that it's magical, or at least that's what all the movies have made me believe; however, it just comes and goes and we are back to our daily routines.

I think that's the purpose of New Year's resolutions is that there is something that you would like to change in your life and the "new year" gives you that opportunity.  I read a lot of others' blogs prior to Christmas, and they all seemed to have a similar message on expressing gratitude throughout the holidays - the idea of being grateful for what you have been given.

But why I ask do we wait until Christmas to look back on the year's past and decide at that time that things have to change?  I tell Greg that the reason that I go to Church every weekend is so that I can do this exact thing - look back on the week's past, how I treated him or others at work whether it was good or bad, examine my thoughts and turn them into something positive rather than dwell over the negative, and then I ask that I am given another week to improve on anything that I need to and continue to do good on things that I am doing good on at the time.

I guess what I am saying is that I think regular self examination is a good thing, and it's nice that New Year's marks a time where everyone at least gives it a thought.  I do think it's beneficial to do is more often though.  I never like sharing what I'm going to try and improve on because I think it's personal and there's nothing worse than someone noticing and commenting on the fact that your not meeting your goals; however, that's why it's so easy to give up on things when you are the only one that is holding yourself accountable.

So, I'll share a few items that I'm trying to tackle in the year ahead...

1. Wiping off the counter after a meal is prepared and wiping out the sink after it is used.  I've been going a week strong on this, and gosh does our kitchen look better.  I used to make a sandwich for lunch in the morning and bread crumbs would still be on the counter when I got home.  I finally told myself that this is not acceptable.  Also, we have a white porcelain sink in our kitchen that I would love to get rid of!  It stains so easily, and we probably only use the "Bar Tender's Helper" cleaner (which works lovely) only about once a month.  Every time we rinse out a dish, especially if it has any oil in it, a nasty stain is left.  So, I'm wiping the sink down and making sure all the food and residue is truly washed down the drain.
2. Being more productive with my weekends.  I hate to admit that I think I've become a procrastinator.  I love doing house projects, but I push them off so much because I'm afraid to get started.  I think last year's resolution to never start a project that I can't finish in 2 weeks has backfired a bit, because I haven't done many smaller projects.  I have to remind myself that I love doing these things and even though I may be tired at the time, I will get the energy I need by starting on the project. 
3. Blogging more regularly.  If you haven't noticed, I may finish 3 posts in a weekend and then sit dormant for 3 weeks.  I would like to post about more projects and finish the rooms that I started on last year.

So, there you have it.  A few things I am working on.  So, what are all of you working on?  Anything small that you've always wanted to accomplish? 

Happy 2013!  Make this year one to remember, one that you love, one that is you.

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas to everyone!  I know this post is a little late to be sending out now, but I'm sure most of you are busy with the same things we are from cleaning your house from all the Christmas decorations, catching up at work, and working off the holiday weight.  Needless to say, we've been busy since we've returned back to Olathe, and we've been fighting off some head colds as well... 

 Our Christmas vacation started on Saturday where my Mom's side of the family came over to celebrate Christmas.  This side of the family is just booming with little children and it almost gets overwhelming when you don't have a child of your own.  My uncle kept saying that my children will also be pulling off the garland from the Christmas tree and throwing ornaments, but I'm not so sure about that.  I hope that we will have a little more control over them, but I guess we will just have to see.  My favorite is still little Maddex, mainly because he is still too young to start talking and he never wants to get away from me holding him. 

We always play "Rob Your Neighbor" or a "White Elephant" gift exchange with this side of the family.  In past years we have received really ugly Christmas candles or used children's toys that we've given away, but this year, it was stressed to spend $5 on a gift and make it something that a person would actually want.  We got some really good little gifts such as a Christmas fleece blanket, gloves, and a ceramic coffee travel mug, all thanks to Greg's rolling of the die.  I'm terrible at rolling sixes.

We went to Church on Sunday, Greg and I finished up some last minute shopping, and then found some time to go running with Mackie before we got ready to go down to Greg's sister's house.  We didn't bring Abby down to Danielle's house and we finally got to see how social her cats were.  They were so friendly!  We played some games and then caught up on some good youtube videos of 2012.  We spent the night down there, and was treated to one of Alex's amazing breakfasts that consists of an open face English muffin with strawberry jelly, a seasoned over easy egg, avocado and drizzled hot sauce on top.  It was delicious!

After talking over breakfast, we got on the subject of not remembering any of the countries and capitals anymore like we used to know in school.  Danielle purchased a flash card game just so she could brush up on her free time, so we got out the cards and make a little game over it.  Mackie and I had plans to go shopping to look for a New Year's Eve dress for her, so I had to start getting ready.  As I was upstairs getting ready, I hear Greg and his brother and sister getting really good at the countries and capitals and laughing and having a good time.  I was thinking how proud their Mom and Dad must be to have children that enjoy playing educational games.

Mackie and I went to the mall and she must have tried on 35 sparkly, sequined dresses to go out in New York in style on New Year's.  She ended up in one that was totally different from the classy gold, silver and black that we tried on all day.  She picked one that was unique in green, blue and black sequins looking like a reptile, in my opinion, so she would be different from the crowd and be in her own style.  I wanted her to send me a picture of her entire outfit, but you get the idea.

As we've become older and now have to share Christmas day with our significant other's families, Christmas Eve has become the Schomburg's family Christmas.  My parents cook a good meal and we open up the present to each other.  We usually play a game as well, but this year we didn't.  My Mom was sick again over the Christmas weekend, so it's never the same when she's feeling under the weather.  We always take a picture in front of the tree every year, and then we do a funny picture.  Greg still doesn't get the hang of the funny pictures, so he always looks confused in the photos.

 I woke up early on Christmas morning to go to Church and then over the Millers to celebrate their Christmas.  We had a really good breakfast and then started opening gifts.  Mrs. Miller made a blanket for Abby out of Greg's old sweatshirts.  The fabrics are so soft, and Abby loves it. 

By the time we finished opening up presents, we didn't have too much time to play games before we had to head over to celebrate Christmas with my Dad's side of the family.  We made it back in time to see the 2 little cousins open up their gifts and play a game.  My other two cousins came over in the evening to continue to play games with us.

The day after Christmas we saw Jessica and Evan who were in town.  We ate lunch at Jessica's parent's house and played more games.  We were really tired from the day before so we weren't all that chatty, but Greg and I have a trip planned to go visit them in Washington DC in a couple weeks, so we knew we would see them again.


My Mom found these jammies for our dogs. 
Abby didn't mind wearing them.

We met Greg's parents for dinner and then went back to their house for more games with Greg's siblings.  We had plans to leave early Thursday morning, but we experiences car troubles with my car towards the end of the break and had to replace the battery on our way out of town.  We went to Sears and had our pets with us.  It took 2 hours for the replacement, and we looked awesome sitting in Sears with Abby and Chase with me in my sweatpants and Greg in his ripped jeans.  At least Abby looked nice enough that some people wanted to pet her.

We're back at home and all I wanted to do with my last few days off was clean, clean, clean.  We put away all our Christmas decorations, but all the floors still need a thorough cleaning, so we are going to accomplish that today.  It was great seeing everyone and we would like to start planning our year ahead with everyone coming up for a visit sometime, so let us know!

PS. I promise we did hang out with the Miller side of the family even though I have no pictures to prove it.  I told Greg that I am going to have to be that creepy camera person always taking pictures from now on and forcing people to smile at times.

Enjoying Winter

We've been spoiled this winter with the weather averaging in the 50's so far.  It has allowed us to continue to run outside, save on our energy bills, and run around comfortably when we were shopping for Christmas gifts.  It was weird with the warmer weather leading up to the holidays, although we still did the traditional winter activities.

Greg knew that he had to travel in the month of December in order to finish up a project.  He had the option of which week to travel since the schedule was flexible.  We were invited to go ice skating with our friends the week after Greg's brithday, so Greg wanted to go to that, so he had to travel the week before Christmas.

I bought Greg a pair of hockey skates from Good Will in college for $3.  I spent another $3 on new laces and another $5 to have the blades sharpened, and wha-la, Greg had a new pair of ice skates.  I used to take ice skating lessons as a child, so it's nice to get out every season and continue to skate.  I'm not that great by any means, but I'm not the person that is falling down or uncomfortable when they are making turns or trying to stop.  And, we all know how great Greg is at anything he does, so he is an expert skater just under the level of figure skating doing triple axles.  Just kidding, but he is a natural when it comes to ice skating.  So, Greg and I aren't the typical couple that is holding hands; one would find us competing for who can skate faster.  Does it even help a person's balance to hold hands?  I've always wondered this.

We went to Crown Plaza to go skating.  I have never been ice skating here.  It was gorgeous with all the lights. 

Greg worked over the following weekend to finish up his project, and then left on Sunday to go up to Michigan for the install.  They called for snow on Wednesday evening in Kansas City, but with the weather we had, it was hard to believe that it would actually stick.  Greg was supposed to fly back Wednesday, but he wasn't finish with his project quite yet, so he pushed back his flight until Thursday. 

Well... The snow did come.  And it went through the area very early in the morning, so it was still blowing hard when I had to leave for work, so visibility was horrible.  I didn't want to risk the drive with Greg being gone and us taking home my car for the holidays.  I watched the news and traffic was horrible, so I knew I made the right decision to stay home.  I went back to bed and Greg called around noon to tell me that all flights to Kansas City were cancelled for Thursday, and with Friday being the day before the holiday weekend, there weren't any options for him to fly to Kansas City, but he could get a late flight into St. Louis.  I didn't take that so well since I had several presents to pack up, laundry to do so I could pack both of our bags now, and a long drive home by myself.  Not to mention that Friday evening was Greg's work's holiday party that we now had to miss.  I think I was more upset over that than he was. 
 
So, Abby and I blew off some steam and went on a walk in the snow, which is another winter activity that I love to do.  She wanted to go outside all morning when I was sitting in the kitchen trying to work.  I would let her outside and she would practically get blown away by the wind.   It calmed down in the afternoon, so we had a nice walk and she ran and ran.  The sidewalks were all iced over, so we just plowed through the fields.

It was a great snow day, and I got a lot done.  The presents were all packed up in the car already, laundry was done, and our bags were half packed.  Greg was a little upset that he missed the snow, but he woke up in Michigan on Friday with a couple inches on the ground.  We went home for the holidays, and St. Louis didn't get any snow.  When we got back to Kansas City, we still had some ice and snow in our backyard.






The temperatures for the next week are in the 20's, and we're missing the warmer weather!