Day Trip

For the past few weekends, Adam and I have stayed in Baltimore and laid pretty low. Usually, it was snowing, so we were unable to go anywhere. On Friday afternoon we both realized we were experiencing some cabin fever, so we decided to head to Washington, D.C. for the day on Saturday. It's amazing that the nation's capital is in our backyard, and we've only been a few times.

We woke up yesterday morning and even though it was cold and windy, we decided to go. We drove down, parked in the big parking garage and walked to the National Museum of American History. We spent quite a few hours walking around, checking out ALL of the galleries. It wasn't very crowded and we were able to read and look at everything.

After we had our fill of the museum, we walked over to the Old Ebbitt Grill, which also happens to be the place where we went to eat to celebrate one year of dating. By the time we had finished dinner, it was getting dark, so we decided to walk back to the car. It wasn't very cold, there was a full moon, and we got to see all of the lit monuments.

Overall, it was a really fun day and I'm already looking forward to going back for the Cherry Blossom Festival in April. Sometimes it's just nice to go experience things in your own backyard.

Bloody Mess

I'm sure you all NEVER get sick of reading my amazing metro stories, so here's another one for you....

Last week, following the double blizzard of 2010, the metro was insane. For most of the week, it was running only on 1 track, and sometimes the trains would be 45 minutes apart. Besides the long span in between trains, they were crowded. I don't mean not find a seat crowded; I mean, heads pushed into armpits, not able to move, nauseous just thinking about it crowded. On top of all of this wonderfulness, the Maryland Transit Authority thought it would be awesome to crank the heat up to 102 degrees, even though everyone was wearing full winter jackets and boots.

On Tuesday, after waiting for 30 minutes for my train after work, it finally came. A sea of humanity piled on, and I raced to sit down so that I could hunker into my protective cocoon with my IPOD blasting. Two stops down the line, when a woman came to sit next to me, I didn't even look up, until something red plopped onto the leg of my pants. Yes, the woman had blood gushing out of her nose, and she had no tissue or anything, it was just running down her hand!

I swear, I almost died right then and there. I couldn't even get up because people were crammed so tightly together, so I just sat there in misery, with strange blood on my pants until the lady got off of the train. I really need to find employment that does not require public transportation.

Blizzard Part 2

Tuesday night into Wednesday, it snowed another foot in Baltimore, and blizzard conditions yesterday prevented us from going to work, or anywhere else. The clean-up from the second round of snow began this morning and work was canceled again. I could get used to this 1-day work week.

A few pictures of the aftermath (by the way, that lump of snow behind the picnic table is actually a car):
After shoveling for an hour to clear out my parking spot, there was only one way to keep it from getting stolen by someone else:
Today I discovered one sign that spring is on the way, I cannot wait to see this tree in bloom in a couple of months:

24 with snow on top

Today was my 24th birthday! I got to sleep in late (we got a 2 hour delay from work) and I got to leave work at 2...so I really only had to work 4 hours today, and we already have tomorrow off. Even though I spent a total of 4 hours on a metro that was only running on one track, I tried to make the best of it.

Adam was great at cheering me up after my long trek home in the snow; he made me dinner (homemade stuffed shells) and a birthday cake (since my original cake is still stuck in Mechanicsburg at my parent's house.) The cake isn't the most amazing looking thing in the world, but I'm sure it will taste wonderful once we cut it a little bit later.


I also got an amazing present, a Nikon D3000 camera, thanks to everyone from my family and Adam's family pitching in! I can't wait to spend my day off tomorrow watching the instructional DVD and learning how to use my new toy.

I also got this voicemail on my phone courtesy of my sister, Carrie and my niece, Charlotte:




Here is one of the first pictures that I took with my new camera, I'm sure there will be many more to come:

Snowmageddon

To say we were buried in snow this weekend would be an understatement. Over 2 feet fell on Pikesville, MD and we're still attempting to dig out. The snow started coming down on Friday afternoon, prompting the federal government to release us at 11, and also prompting Adam and me to go out and buy a Wii with the percentage of our tax return money deemed as "fun money." We made it home just before the roads became really treacherous and we have been stuck inside ever since.

Unfortunately, the snow storm ruined my birthday dinner plans that were scheduled for Saturday night and then postponed (and later canceled) until today. Even today, it would have been hard to get out and about, so we stayed put.

We have been passing the time playing Wii, watching movies, napping and working on schoolwork and real work. I am hoping that the government will be closed tomorrow, because I am still a little bit nervous about driving in all of this mess. Another 6-10 inches is expected to fall again starting on Tuesday and continuing into Wednesday.

Today, as we were attempting to break up the icy chunks of snow in front of his car, Adam suggested that we start looking for a warmer place to live. I would have to agree.