Monday, May 19, 2014

Nats and Boston... oh and I passed my CPT exam too!!!

Two resent weekends have been a lot of fun! Spring has finally come and I took a break from studying to get out and enjoy a baseball game and go to Boston to see my nieces/celebrate my dad's birthday!

The game was INCREDIBLE! Perfect day for a baseball game, and basically we had the perfect set-up. My boss gave me his tickets so we were four rows behind the Nats dugout AND we also had access to all the free food at the diamond club! Yes - doesn't get much better than that. I asked Mer tom come with me and then she asked Joe and Marc to come with us. It was a REALLY good mix and we had fun chatting. The Nats ended up winning too!
 
 The next weekend I headed up to Boston. It was their first weekend where the signs of spring were starting to show as well. I walked over to my brother's office and he showed me the view.

Pretty Impressive!
 I was also very impressed with their cafeteria and free frozen yogurt with toppings. That would be a danger for me if I worked there!

Madison drove in to the city to meet us and we all went to the park. It was a lot of fun! The girls had a great time playing on all the contraptions and I had fun watching them smile and laugh :)
 Holland is such a social little girl. She made friends with these girls who are at least twice her age, but she is so friendly and sweet - everyone loves her!

We also walked around Boston Commons and threw stones in the water. Holland is currently obsessed with rocks :)
 I love this picture of Mary!!
 Evan and Madison lucked out and won tickets to the Red Sox game that night. I stayed home to babysit the girls. It was a win/win situation.
 One of my favorite events that weekend was going on a REALLY long run along Storrow Drive. Something I had NEVER done while there (I am such a treadmill girl!). But it was gorgeous! I could have stopped and taken a ton of pictures, but these were my highlights :)

 Holland loves this hat so we had to take a picture before heading to the store. It was May. She didn't need a winter hat, but she wore it anyway!
 When my dad came we went to the park again. Holland loves riding backwards in the stroller. She wants to know where she's going and not see what's behind her. I can understand that! We had a great time celebrating my dad and eating the usual yummy Chinese food :) We also got him an ice cream cake! Yum!!
 I did a quick stop by my old homes. It brought back so many memories to see Charnwood and Hancock Streets again. Oh my goodness. SO SO SO many memories. Mostly happy ones :)
 Places still looks the same though :)

And finally - I PASSED!!!!!!! Wow. Honestly -  until I was finished taking the exam I had not realized how much of my time, thoughts and energy were put in to studying for this crazy test! I am truly so glad I did it and I am going to wait until I move to see how I am going to incorporate it in to my life, BUT, if anything, I learned a lot for my own personal knowledge and for that I am grateful.

However, it was very time consuming and since I don't do well on standardized tests, I was REALLY nervous! I didn't do anything this past week but study, sleep, eat and work :) But, I PASSED!! I passed! And since yesterday I have not done much of consequence :) I'll start again tomorrow but I was burned out. I did spend some time with friends and that was very nice! I just hope that I can use my knowledge to help others reach their goals. That is what I love most about it!
Many changes are coming my way over the next few months. I am going to enjoy the road, but continue to try and do/be my best. I am grateful for a healthy body... and after studying for this exam I have yet again realized how AMAZING and incredible our bodies really are!

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Cherry Blossoms and DC

 This post is VERY overdue, but I couldn't resist posting a few of the pictures from April's Cherry Blossom Bloom in DC! It had been quite a winter and we weren't sure it was ever going to warm up, but it finally did and the long wait surely paid off! The blooms were incredible.

One Saturday morning, Amanda Telford and I braved the massive crowds and ran across the 14th street bridge and around the monuments. It was an incredible day and an experience I won't forget any time soon.... esp as I get ready to move from the area! One thing I will miss is the history and culture of this area. Our nation wasn't born in DC, but many, many great historical events have happened here over the years and many great leaders have lived and worked in this area so that I could enjoy the freedoms I currently have. I am so grateful for that and grateful for the beauty of the earth!

A couple of these pictures I snagged from friends... the ones in the sunshine mid-morning are mine, but I couldn't resist posting the others!