night shift insomnia.

>>daily reminder from LLD<<

So.

I worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Came home yesterday morning around 8, got into bed, and slept until 1. I made myself wake up and do normal activities so that I could sleep at a normal hour at night.

My. Plan. Failed.

It's actually been failing me pretty regularly for the past month or so even though it has worked like a charm for the past year. Until the end of June/beginning of July, I had no problem switching back and forth between nights and days. I actually have no issue waking up and functioning the day after I worked nights, I just now seem to have an issue sleeping at night.

So here I am. 5:22 Tuesday morning and I've been up since 1 yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure why I couldn't sleep last night since I know I'm tired, but I have a two thoughts.

One could be that since I've been working more night than day shifts, my body is just on a night schedule and is having a tougher time switching back and forth.

The other, which I honestly think to be more likely, is that it's wedding crunch time. Tomorrow marks the one month marker. Though I haven't had a real stress moment, I do constantly have various little check boxes going through my head of the different things that need to get done.

I put my insomnia to good use though! I pretty much solidified the seating chart in one shot, paid some bills, did some laundry, and watched Breaking Pointe on Hulu. I did get into bed a few times when I started to feel tired... but then my head just kept thinking about different things.

My new sleep plan for today... stay up until 8 (the time I usually get home from work), take some zzzquil, and try to sleep until just before I have to go to work tonight.

Wish me luck!

Maybe I should start meditating daily to calm my mind... Any tips?

Here's a few photos from Foam Fest that occurred many moons ago in Richmond, VA.

>>that's a broken obstacle right there... that people still climbed<<

let the countdown begin.

38 days.

Thirty-eight!

That's the number of days until Dave and I get married! Sure the countdown has been going for a while... but for other people. I never really got into the counting down of days. I knew that it was still a few months and that was good enough of a countdown for me. Well friends, the time has come. I have the number in my head ready to spout off whenever requested. Feel free to test me sometime. ;)

The past few months of planning haven't been as bad as people lead you to believe. Planning from across the country (living in DC, getting married in SD)... also not so bad. It wasn't until a couple weeks ago that I decided I now need to kick my butt into gear and get those little projects I said could wait until the summer going. The moment I decided that caused me some fear... but it hasn't been so bad and is coming together rather nicely. Sure there are still some details that need to be sorted, but at this moment the forecast looks good.

Let's hope the next 37 days treat us well. :)

Care for some random photos of the past few weeks in DC?

 >> camping in the shenandoahs<<

 >>camping kisses<<

>>gotta love some baseball<< 

>>a little gold cup action<< 

>>he embraces laziness<< 

>>marine barracks<< 

>>national cathedral<<

five things.

five of my favorites from the past few weeks.

 >> summer, baseball, and presidents <<

 >> summer and golf <<

 >> summer day trips <<

 >> summer, sunshine, and roller coasters <<

>> summer and the best friends anyone could ever ask for <<

I'm sensing a theme here... 

good to be back.

After a long and unintended break from this blog, I'm back! Even better, today marks the return of Arrested Development! Though I haven't spent the whole day watching Season 4, I have been waiting for this day for over a year (I hopped on the AD bandwagon a little late) and have watched the first episode. I plan on watching the rest in the next few days.

So what has been happening lately? A lot and practically nothing at the same time, it feels. Over the past few months I've gotten more acclimated to work, gone for hikes, listened to some great live music, planned a bunch for the wedding, watched the Caps practice, turned 27, enjoyed March Madness in DC, and played a few rounds of kickball and indoor bocce. See, I've been doing things but nothing really new or groundbreaking. Hahah.

To ease back into this blogging thing, this post is more photos than words.

Oh, and enjoy Memorial Day tomorrow! Be safe.

xx

dog meets snow.

Last weekend, a group of us went up to Pennsylvania for some fun and relaxation. We were a little worried about how our Panamanian dog would react to a massive amount of snow... He's obviously been around snow here in DC but nothing more than a couple inches. We should've known better than to worry. ;)

#inaug2013.

Today we witnessed the swearing in of President Obama and Vice President Biden in the 57th Presidential Inauguration. It was a long day filled with lots of walking, lots of trying to squeeze through people for restroom breaks, and lots of excitement.

Our day started incredibly early, 3:30 am to be exact. Some friends popped by the house for some inaugural pre-gaming followed by walking towards the mall to find a spot to wait for several hours until the ceremony began. Some friends had tickets for different sections (some with actual seats, those lucky guys!)... we were with the non-ticketed folk, which is essentially general admission, and had to prepare to brave the masses. We didn't get to our spot on the mall until 6:30 thanks to road blocks and detours but ended up getting a pretty sweet spot anyway.

Since the ceremony wouldn't be starting until 11:30, I decided to plop myself down on the ground and nap. I've been sick since Thursday and decided that between the lack of sleep and the cold I needed to rest as much as possible... even if that meant sleeping in a little ball tucked against a folding chair on one side and Dave's leg on the other. It worked out pretty well for me. Even though I still don't feel perfect I'm sure that the nap helped me in the health department.

The ceremony itself was incredible. I'm so thankful to be living in a city where history is being made every day and I'm able to witness it first hand. The various speeches were moving and inspiring. I'm excited for the possibility of where this country can go - I just hope our politicians put their special interests aside and focus on the American people.

We capped the day with some cupcakes from The Sweet Lobby - don't you just love the Obama toppings?

Congrats, Mister President!

a day of presidents.

A few weeks ago, our dear friend Mindy came to town. We decided to spend the day doing touristy things none of us have done (there are still so many more things in DC that Dave and I have yet to see/do). I'd been dying to check out the National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum and decided that should be on the list. The other thing? Watching A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theater. Good planning all around!

We ended up taking two of the free tours at the Portrait Gallery. One looking at Civil War art in the American Art Museum and the other exploring everything the National Portrait Gallery has to offer. I highly recommend taking the tours if you ever go. You learn way more than you would just walking around the place alone - though I'm sure everyone but me already knew that. My favorite part was the section with portraits of all of the presidents. Some looked lifelike... while others didn't. They were all great though!

The production of A Christmas Carol was incredible. It's one of my favorite Christmas stories, yet I'd never seen it live. So exciting! It was a little eerie at times to know that I was sitting across from where the infamous event occurred, but I got over it pretty quickly. Ford's Theater is absolutely gorgeous. I love how small it is and how you have a pretty great view from wherever you're sitting. Since we bought our tickets pretty last minute, the three of us ended up having to sit separately. Another new experience... being sandwiched between strangers during a play. In the end it doesn't matter - I mean, how often do you really talk to the person next to you when so engrossed in a play?

And completely unrelated... how cool is this?

here it goes again.

Been a crazy past few days. Thanksgiving was great until I started to feel icky. Now the dog isn't doing so well either. We did catch A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theater last night - pretty amazing! We did take tons of pictures on Thursday at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... I'll post them soon! Just trying to get life back in order.

Until then... enjoy this video that I somehow escaped. Seriously, how have I never seen this amazing piece of work?!

safe and sound. windy and wet.

Thank you to all of my friends and family who have checked in on me throughout the past 24 hours to make sure that I'm ok and safe. I'm happy to report that hurricane-turned-post-tropical-storm Sandy did minimal damage in my neighborhood. We have power, running water, and no flooding. Yes, a tree came down and damaged two cars (I thought it was only one... turns out another was hidden under all of those branches) but the only other remnants of a storm are leaves and small branches on the ground. It's still raining and windy outside, but nothing scary. Metro is still closed (though the escalators are going... how about we save some energy WMATA?!), but businesses are opening up again. If you have twitter, you can search #openindc to see which businesses are open.

Unfortunately, not everyone on the East Coast has been as lucky. NYU hospital had to be evacuated, cities are without power and are flooded, and the death toll is climbing. I am so very thankful and lucky that we're safe here in DC, Dave is safe in NC, and my friends and family along the coast are all safe as well. Some don't have power or water, but at least they're all safe and indoors. Praying for all of those who were so heavily impacted by this storm - especially in NY and NJ, which I heard were hit the hardest.

On a lighter note... Don't forget to go to Taco Bell to get your free Doritos locos taco this afternoon thanks to Angel Pagan for stealing a base during game 2 of the World Series! If your location is closed today due to the storm... there will be a raincheck date!