I can't believe I get to walk by this every day. We live in a very beautiful country.

Harvest Reunion

I love October! This past weekend we drove 2.5 hours south to spend a couple of days with the LaRochelle family in Charlottesville, VA. My dad and little siblings were on fall break, so we opted to spend time together picking apples, ice skating, bottling cider, etc. in celebration of the harvest season.

I have been sick with some kind of chest cold, which was disappointing for the much anticipated weekend, but there is something so healing about things like my mom making me tea and rubbing my shoulders. Being babied is the best medicine sometimes.

I am amazed every time my family reunites because my little brother is always not-so-little anymore and my sister is like a little version of me. Our precious time together is always a little bit chaotic, but it is what makes every minute so damn fun.

We headed up to Carter's Mountain on Saturday for a little apple picking. We probably spent more time napping and enjoying the view than we did actually picking but we left with 4 hefty bags of crisp, delicious apples.

Joseph and Susanna made two fabulous batches of applesauce, both very different, but both very good. All of us seem to have a thing for being creative with food.

We spent Sunday afternoon tearing up the ice skating rink. We may be chaotic but we sure know how to have a good time.

Man, I have been so consumed by new classes, new friends, and new places, I have neglected to write an update.

We are fully in the swing of things here with the average day proceeding as follows:

5:45 am Wake up

6:45 am Bike to Metro

7:30 am Get a little exercise in before class

9:00 am Class

5:00 pm Finish class and hop on the Metro

Study back to back in our office for several hours with an occasional break for an episode of "the office".

11:00 pm Sleep

That might sound over the top or you might be rolling your eyes and thinking "get over it," but we are actually having a lot of fun as we stumble through our new routine. We could not be more thankful to be able to spend our time studying what we love, regardless of the stress it may bring.

Having bragged about how busy we are, its probably time to move on to more exciting updates... The wonderful Peggy La (aka Mom or Pegster) came to town this past week for my White Coat Ceremony at GWU. I have officially taken the oath of a life of service in the health arena:)

Mom, Adam and I spent a lot of time roaming the Capitol, visiting monuments, eating yummy food and doing just about everything but cracking the books. It was great to have a distraction for a few days and have time to show her around our new home. We are so blessed to be a quick plane flight away from family and we fully intend on taking advantage of this.

In search of some peanut m&ms on the Mall.

City Folk

It is no exaggeration to say that the pace of our lives just stepped up about 10 notches. After two months of fun, we are buckled down for 4 years of rigorous studya.

This past week we have been busy with orientation, registration, and completing our small office where we will spend a majority of our time in the coming months. I am still getting used to the metro that I will be riding every morning for about 30 minutes. I have already found that there is something therapeutic about riding on a noisy train full of strangers where I can drink my coffee and read a book/after class. It is funny how we have adjusted so quickly to a lifestyle that is far different from what we have come from. Though we miss the natural beauty and slower pace of Missoula (and of course our friends there:), DC is overflowing with museums, music, culture, good food, and interesting people. I think it will keep us quite busy.

I thought I would post a couple of pictures to document our life in DC so far. A couple of these are from our time up in New England with the LaRochelle clan.

Enjoying some delicious Ethiopian food off of Logan Circle.

One of the many incredible fossil exhibits at the Natural History Museum. Pat and I were there for hours

Picking a pail full of apples for our rhubarb/apple crisp fresh from the backyard of 88 Bellevue (home to the marvelous Grandma LaRochelle)

The masterpiece.

Hanging out on the porch with our beautiful grandmother.

Saying goodbye

Brewing his first batch of beer...a yummy cream ale.

Bottling the near finished product. Now we just have to wait 10 days to try it!!

Full Disclosure

I have just come to the end of two amazing weeks spent with family and dear friends. I do feel the need to pay tribute to my dear husband who has spent the last week moving all of our things across the country and into our new home in D.C. while i have been lounging on the beach and dissolving my hideous tan lines. I still feel periodic pangs of guilt when I think about the endless hours he spent driving the U-Haul through the Midwest. 

Now, I am anxiously sitting in the Tampa airport, eager to get back to my best friend and my new home. It is still hard to believe that tomorrow I will wake up in the heart of a very big city with very cool things to explore. 

p.s. We do have an extra bedroom, so if you are in the area, please come and stay with us!

Encounters with the Wild

Well, the end of our trip has taken a slight turn. We set up our tent and hammock in a campground outside of Trinidad, CA. Spending the evening reading among the redwoods was just what we had planned until we heard a screeching sound coming from the campsite adjacent to ours. The best description I can give is of a cat being run over or chased by a dog. As soon as I heard the eery noise, I recalled that while checking in, the manager of the campground had been conversing with a state trooper about a rabid fox that was roaming the surrounding area. This may sound negligent but it did not really register as a concern. 

Sure enough, our tent neighbors came bounding out of their tent waving a machete and claiming that a fox had been trying to scramble through the ventilation flap into their tent.  We jumped into our car to find the manager and as we drove past the bathroom there were three screaming girls running from the showers with a limping fox following in hot pursuit. 

The fox somehow made its escape but the manager assured all of us that he was handling the situation and we were not to worry. I will admit that it took quite some time for Adam to calm me down and convince me that we would be safe in our tent (time was 9:45 pm). 

From this point on, all I remember is that at about 10:15 there was a slight thump outside followed by the same scrambling and squealing that we had heard earlier, except that this time the creature was inside of OUR rain flap. I would like to say that I jumped into action with my adrenaline pumping to battle the rabid animal, but for some reason my mind and body thought it more appropriate to lay prostrate yelling profanities while Adam administered the real beating. 

The twist in the story actually comes in here. Within seconds of the creature retreating from our tent, we realized that instead of a fox, we had been attacked (and sprayed) by a rabid skunk!! 

Needless to say, we packed our bags and spent the next 24 hours trying to find a way to deodorize ourselves and our gear. 

With only three nights remaining in our trip, we have decided to bag our reeking gear and spend the next few evenings in quaint hotels on the coast of Oregon. Why punish ourselves with the painful task of deodorization when we can always take care of it some other day?

Experiencing City Life

I am a bit behind on my updates so I thought I would go ahead and jump to more recent events. The past week and  half we have been relaxing on the coast and camping in some of the beautiful coastal state parks of CA. Touring the magnificent Hearst Castle, observing the curious habits of the elephant seals, wandering through redwood and sequoia forests, and dipping our toes in the pacific eventually led us into the heart of San Francisco where we spent the past four days. 

I had a small pit in my stomach as we navigated our way through the maze of downtown, trying to locate our hotel. We are about to move to a city of comparable size/population (at least in the opinion of a mountain girl) and I have been nervous that a visit to San Fran might turn me into an anti-urbanite indefinitely. 

However, the pit was gone after a little less than 2 hours and I realized and I kept saying over and over again that "I can't wait to live in D.C." I agree that living amongst millions is busy, hectic, somewhat anonymous, etc. but there is something attractive about it, nonetheless. 

First night we entered into the lottery for last minute tickets to Wicked, and we were the first names called!!! I think it now rivals Les Miserables in my ranking of Broadways. The evening was a blast!

We spent Saturday morning sharing coffee and a loaf of sourdough at the Farmer's Market on the Pier. Even in a city that spans miles and miles, the turnout to support local farmers was impressive.

We strolled through the Castro district and saw the famous theater and Harvey Milk Park. If you haven't yet seen "Milk", you definitely should.

We watched the San Francisco Mime Troup at the Mission Delores Park.

We shared a delicious ice cream sundae in Ghirardelli Square.

Best of all, we had a picnic on the grass at Fisherman's Wharf and watched the Independence Day celebration and fireworks. Best fireworks we have ever seen!!