5 Years In DC

Last week marked five years since I moved to the city, which means I've been a bad at updating this blog for five years! :) I've been thinking about this milestone a lot lately, and it's hard to put into words how I feel. When I think back on my life in southern Indiana before the move, it doesn't feel like that long ago until I start thinking about how much life has changed.

"New" friends are people I've known four years. There have been celebrations for marriages and tears for divorces. Babies are showing up all over the place. I'm now an aunt to two precious little girls, and an honorary aunt to a handful of others. I've changed jobs within my organization, and take my lunch to work like a grown up.

And then there's the big ones: I met, married, and celebrated multiple anniversaries with Ross. And we've even bought a house in the city. Didn't see that one coming so fast when I moved here.

But isn't that the beauty in life? You can have a five year plan, but then there are twists and turns along the way that you just have to go with. I can't imagine the next five years being as transformative and life changing as the last, but we'll just have to wait and see.

How has your life changed in the last 5 years?

Unpacking the surprise friends put on my moving truck

One Day

Yesterday I participated in Hollywood Housewife's One Day Project (#OneDayHH). Or I at least tried to. I'm not able to Instagram at work, so there was silence during the day. Don't fret! I still took pictures.

Here's one day in my life. The regular, average, mundane and normally not photo worthy moments.

Wishing I could wear jeans to work.

When will I learn to prep lunches the night before?

Good morning D street!

Short cut around these jokers who don't know the stop light timing.

First thing I do at the office is make a cup of coffee. The day can now begin.

I never know who will be on the other end, but love my Dr. Dre ringtone. (Post it is censoring my number.)

It was two sweaters cold in the office.

Lunch-time yoga!

Random farm magnets I was given and old school Ross photos from his grandparents fridge.

My desk in all it's messy glory.

I found these wild animals in the hall. Perfect addition to afternoon tea time.

Reverse commute with a beautiful sunset and the Capitol building.

Friend wrote out her mom's lasagna recipe. I planned on making it but forgot the ricotta and cottage cheese.

Leftovers for dinner with a side of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia".

Laundry is drying so that's the end to my housework for the day.

Summer of Fun (Part 1)

Writing that last post just made me realize how far behind I've gotten in keeping up with our Weekly Family Photos. We had a busy and fun summer. Some of these pictures aren't the most flattering, but whatever. This is real life. Let's begin the run down of our summer.

Weekend roofers

Ross' dad was redoing part of their roof when we went to visit one weekend. I volunteered to drill all the screws for the plywood. This farm girl knows how to use a drill. On the down side, all that scooting on the plywood put two giant holes in the bum of my jeans. Good thing they were work jeans!

First BBQ

After years of living without any outdoor space, we were finally able to host a BBQ! It was an impromptu affair and we forgot to get a picture until after some friends had left, but it was so nice to be able to enjoy delicious burgers at home.

Celebrating the happy couple

Stephen grew up a mile down the street from Ross, so it's not a stretch to say they go way back.We spent the weekend in Philly for an engagement party for the couple. It was a lot of fun to meet Jenna's family and to begin the celebration for these two. I'm going to predict you will see them again in April 2014 because I can't imagine something making the weekly photo other than their wedding.

Skiing in the cold

We went to Indiana over Memorial Day weekend. Last year it was crazy hot, this year it was chilly. You can bet that didn't stop Ross from meeting up with my high school friends for a morning ski on the Lake. I chose to just watch from the boat with the heat on.

Week at the farm

Of course we visited the family in Indiana! We stayed for a week, but didn't try to get a group picture until right before we left. I love the girls in the this picture. Miss S just got a new watch that day, and Miss N is just adorable with her Pebbles pony tail.

Natitude

A former co-worker of mine had Nationals tickets he couldn't use, so he gave them to us FOR FREE. We were pretty excited and then we saw how close they were and felt a little guilty. But he told us to enjoy them, and we sure did.

Wedding season starts

We traveled with our CG to Connecticut for our friends' wedding. We all rented a house at the beach and had a great time hanging out and celebrating the happy couple. On a less sentimental note, we got an EZ Pass for the trip and loved passing all the people in the toll lanes. It's the simple things.

Sister time

My sister came to town for the weekend.We did what we do best: go for a run, get pedicures, drink coffee, and relax at the pool. We took her for Ethiopian and had long meals at the house. She also got to see our new house and neighborhood since it will be awhile before she can visit again. She was here for 48 hours, but they were filled with great sister heart to heart time.

Birthday sillyness

The perk to having an almost holiday birthday is you know your friends don't have to work the next day. A few days before we decided to host a cookout. We had fun, but probably should have done more cooking in advance. We ended up forcing people to stay late to have our homemade ice cream. (Yes, it's that good.) My favorite part about this picture is Alex's face. Cracks me up every time.

Their first MLB game

Going to bed after my cookout, I said to Ross "I need to admit something. There had been a few strange things about you the last few days that I thought my parents would surprise me and be at the cookout." We laughed about it, but then the next day they do show up at my house! It was a great surprise and coming the day after my birthday really threw me off. Good work mom and dad! We went to the movies and out to eat on the 4th to enjoy some AC. The next day we braved the heat and went to the Nats game. We didn't watch baseball growing up, so it was fun to take them to their first MLB game. And according to my mom, "They are a lot better than you girls ever were at softball. This is fun."

Seneca Rocks: Then and Now

Then:

December 2009

My first trip to West Virginia was the winter '09-'10. We were going to spend the weekend skiing with his parents and some friends. Ross wanted to drive a little bit out of our way to see Seneca Rocks. Now, I had never heard of the place, but he explained it is a popular (and challenging) place to go rock climbing.

I distinctly remember keeping a lookout for the rocks as we got close to the point in the GPS. And then all of a sudden there it was. "What?!? You're telling me people actually try to climb those things? They've got to be crazy."

Now:

July 2013

That's right, I'm now almost one of those crazy people. I say almost because I actually didn't climb what you see in the picture above. I did a route to the side and was pretty proud of myself for my first outside climb.

This post is actually late and has been sitting in draft form for quite awhile. We went out to Seneca at the end of July with some friends. We hiked, camped, climbed, and eventually started a fire with wet wood.

Can you spot Ross?

And since I was a newbie and the least enthused to climb, this is how I spent most of the days. Sitting at the bottom reading a book. (Highly recommend And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini.)

Defining Community in DC

It's been almost 5 years since I moved to the city. And within a few months, I had joined a community group (CG) with my church. I remember there were multiple groups in my neighborhood and I picked the one meeting on Tuesdays so it wouldn't interfere with watching Lost. What a great decision that was.

Last night was the last time the group met as I currently know it. We've grown to the point that we will now be two groups, but the fact is that it's already a new group. DC is such a transient city that when we started discussing this, there were only three people who were here when I joined. And that doesn't even count the others who have already come and gone.

Your CG are the people who:

 ...you meet up with during a snowstorm.

...pray for you weekly.

...rejoice with you when those prayers are answered.

...are quick to respond to parties with free food.

... all pitch in to get you a sweet wedding gift.

 ...help you move.

...watch and discuss The Bachelor/ette with you.

...send you blog posts - both silly and spiritual.

... you rent a house with for a retreat along with wine tastings.

...tell you about Peregrine.

...are the hands and feet of Christ.

...want to know your life story.

... you spend the holidays with when you don't go home.

...join you for runs or walks about the neighborhood.

...you constantly have to "break the ice".

...encourage you to meet your neighbors.

... travel hours in traffic to celebrate a wedding of a couple who live less than 5 minutes away.

...make sure you go to Good Stuff on a regular basis.

...celebrate engagements with champagne toasts.

...educate you about differences in Northern and Southern culture.

... have a hard time taking a serious picture.

...help you clean up your flooded basement.

...walk beside you through trying times.

...challenge you to love God and love others.

... promised to be the first ones on the dance floor at your wedding.

Anniversary Vow

Three years ago, I stood before God, our family and friends and made a vow. This past year has had joy and sorrow, new beginnings and losses, laughter and tears but we've made it through. The words I promised have been pushed up against and I'm sure they will continue to be, but I made them with full confidence in The One who can help me keep them. Plus I have a pretty cool husband which makes it easier.

I Kari, take you Ross

To be my lawfully wedded husband

To have and to hold

For better or for worse

For richer for poorer

In sickness, in health,

To love and to cherish

From this day forward

Until death do us part

That's What She Said

It all began in January 2007, sitting on my friend’s couch in Baltimore. She said, "You just have to see this one episode of The Office.” It was “Casino Night” when Jim finally tells Pam how he feels and kisses her. From that day on I was hooked.

I was a recent college graduate trying to figure out my place in this new grown up world. I had recently started going to a young adults group at my new church and a few of them had recommended I watch the show, so when I got back from my trip, they let me borrow their copies of the previous seasons. The antics of this office helped me feel better about my 9 to 5 existence.And that is how a TV show came to define my post-college twenties.

A TV show define 7 years of your life? I know it sounds a bit extreme but hear me out. In those first few years out of college, friendships were built around watching this show. My closest friends were the five of us who always got together to watch the latest episode. They were the people who also thought it was hilarious my neighbors were named Dwight and Angela. We threw a premiere party and dressed in character. When I moved to DC we’d still chat online about the funniest lines. I gave up TV for lent except for The Office. And when Ross and I started dating many people referred to as “Jim and Pam”.

But when it was announced this would be the last season I was ready to say goodbye. I’d grown and changed over the years and so had the show. It was no longer appointment television for me, and rather something I’d catch up on when I could. (Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still seen every episode.) I’ve spent many hours laughing, crying, and cringing with these characters over the years and I’m sure my final hours with them tonight won’t be any different.

**Today I went looking for some of the daily calendar quotes I kept a few years ago, and this is the only one I could find. "I work hard all day. I like knowing there's going to be a break. Most days I just sit and wait for the break." - Kevin

Spring Is Here

With April came the start of spring weather which meant we started to do outside activities. I forget how much I miss the sunshine until I get to enjoy it again.

Cherry Blossom bike ride

We tried to outsmart the tourists by checking out the cherry blossoms on bike. Big mistake. Our regular routes that we can just fly down were full of cars and mass amounts of pedestrians jaywalking. We thought we would go around Hains Point, but even that was bumper to bumper traffic. Defeated we turned around to go home. Oh and did I mention that even though it was late in the season and "peak bloom" they actually hadn't bloomed yet? We did get our picture with the one blooming tree on the ride.

Purdue College of Science Distinguished Alumni Awards

Now before you get too excited, I wasn't at these awards as an honoree. This weekend marked my first meeting on the CoS Alumni Board. It was inspiring to hear from the award winners about how their time at Purdue was fundamental to not only their professional but also personal lives. I was also able to have conversations with fellow board members and I was amazed at how even though we were on campus decades apart we had some of the same memories. Boiler Up!

Capitol Crescent with Caroline

It only took us a year and a half to go on this bike ride. We planned to do this October of 2011 but the day before the temperature dropped and it snowed a few inches. This time the weather was perfect! A nice sunny but cool spring morning, so we biked to Betheseda and back and then ventured into Dupont for brunch. It was one of those perfect DC outings.

Landscaping day

This picture doesn't quite do our backyard justice. We spent WAY too long at Lowe's looking at their plants. The next day we planted a few junipers and rose bushes in the back and got flats of petunias and inpatients to add extra pops of color. The front has 3 rose bushes, a hanging basket, and an azalea tree. You can't live in DC and not have an azalea tree! We did one thing I NEVER would have done on the farm. We bought a bag of compost and manure to mix in the dirt. I guess that's what it means to live in the city...

Hello Again

I began the year with a simple goal: post our Weekly Family Photo. But then life happened. I don't necessarily mean the normal day to day activities took over (which of course they always do). I mean the kind of things that are big in your life and you can't think of the right words to say to truly share what's going on. Here we are almost three months later and I'm still not sure what to do about it. Instead, I'm just going to move forward. I'm going to post a monthly round up and then circle back to fill in the gap.

March

Caroline teaches her first yoga class

Our friend and co-worker Caroline needed to teach a yoga class to complete her teacher training. We got up early on a Saturday to catch our bus to the other side of town. For years I've heard her refer to her "urban family" which is a phrase I love. It's encouraging to know that even though our true families are far away, there are people here to celebrate accomplishments and life events with us.

Snow day!

We got our first (and only) snow day of the year in March. Since there wasn't anything more than a dusting in the city we couldn't even play outside. We spent the day painting the basement bedroom and discovered I inherited my mother's skills for doing trim. I'm very slow, but good if you're looking to hire someone. Also the lighting of this picture isn't very good, but it's a nice light blue/green.

Alison comes to town

One of the hardest parts of living in this city is that your friends tend to move away. Lucky for us, our friend Alison still comes back to DC for work and fun. She's great about scheduling a time for friends to gather and catch up and have fun. And no, I didn't plan to match my little pal.

Date night

We finally made it the "little Italian restaurant behind the liquor store" our former neighbors told us about. And it was worth the wait. The food was good and there was something special about being only one of about 10 tables in this little neighborhood spot.

Easter brunch with the CG

Our Community Group (CG) from church got together to celebrate Easter with a potluck brunch. Ross followed my family tradition by getting me a corsage even though the person left about six inches of stem. (Obviously the person has never had to actually WEAR a corsage...) After brunch we walked down the street to see a house on the market and walked past an Easter egg hunt in progress. Before church we were able to Skype with my sister and her family and with my parents visiting her, the whole family got to be together in a very 21st century way.

That's the month of March! Well, not everything, but our weekly pictures at least!