Washington DC - Thursday

On Thursday, my conference organizers hosted an "end of the conference" evening of entertainment.  It sounds like we went to a circus or something, but really it was a tour - Monuments by Moonlight.  I was excited to see all the monuments but was kind of bummed for two main reasons - it would be dark so I wouldn't get many good pictures and because it was a bus tour, I knew we weren't going to stop at each monument which I really wanted to do. It ended up being a really good tour and I really enjoyed myself and everything I got to see.

I had to get one picture in of my hotel - The Hilton Mark Center.  I was somewhere in the middle on the 15th floor.

Side view of the Lincoln Memorial, which was the first monument we stopped at.  Before this, we had driven by the White House, the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, and the WWII Memorial. Doesn't the sky look creepy?!

Front view of the Lincoln Memorial (sorry for the not-so-good picture quality).

The names of the states are engraved on the top...if you can zoom in...Oregon was right out in front!

Mr. Honest Abe - larger than life.

Abe and me...the person taking the picture couldn't quite get him focused.  :o)

Something to meditate on while in his place.

The Korean War Memorial...the lifesize images of soldiers in formation was really something.

There was also a Nurse's Memorial for those who served in WWII (I think).  Someone put carnations in one of the fallen soldier's hand (the nurse was holding a fallen soldier).

This book lists all the names of those who died or are missing still from the Vietnam War. So many pages, multiple columns per page...

There are so many names on this wall...

...someone's brother, son, sister, husband, wife...it's just so sad.

A fuzzy picture of the Washington Monument from outside the Lincoln Memorial.  See the Capitol in the background?  It's all in a straight line - Capitol, Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.

We also saw the Marine Corp Monument (the statue of the men raising the flag at Iwo Jima).

AND.

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.

I saw fireflies!!!!!!

We are really starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with our main floor remodel.  All the "big" stuff seems to be done and we're now working on the little finishing things like grouting, installing trim, caulking, sealing the stone and grout lines, painting and putting things back together. Mark hates finishing projects - I love them.  So, I have been the one pushing and motivating us to get this done. (Mark is gung-ho about the big stuff.) Our deadline of having everything done before my parents come up is thankfully still very realistic!  

Here's some of what we've been up to:

We installed the tub backsplash. (This picture is pre-grout....and cleaning.)

Mark plumbed in the bathroom sinks and I installed the sink backsplash.

And before we knew it, we had a real working bathroom!

The rugs on the ground are from our hallway - they were just here because we don't have a rug(s) for in front of the sink yet.

This is totally off topic, but do you see those clear plastic thingies holding up the mirrors? I DESPISE those things...no idea why, but Mark is going to glue the mirrors to the wall so they will look better (to me anyway).

It is a 100% working bathroom, but that doesn't mean it's 100% done.  We still have to:

• install the cabinet hardware
• fix my mirrors
• redo the window trim
• paint the trim
• paint the walls
• decorate

All I can say is that you know you've been remodeling for a long time when on the first night you can use a bathroom sink again, you braindeadedly go to the tub faucet to wash your face and brush your teeth.  :o)  Yeah, I did that.   

Washington DC - Monday

I spent Monday on the Capitol side of the mall. I saw the Capitol, Union Station, the Botanical Garden, the Senate Buildings, the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court building. Monday was also Flag Day, so I tried to get a lot of pictures of flags as I walked around.

{lights? nope! cameras.}

You can't help but feel very patriotic walking around Washington DC, especially on Flag Day!

Living in construction zone

It's not glamorous. It's not fun. And it's definitely not romantic.

It's dirty, frustrating, crazy, and disorganized.

For those of you who know me, I like my house clean and organized. I don't do well in a disorganized house (especially not in a dirty one!), which is what I've been living in the last 6 months.  So, for a bit of fun, here are some pictures of what I've been living in. You will more than likely gasp, shriek, gag, possibly cry and maybe drop to your knees, thankful that your house really isn't as dirty as it could be.

My husband is of the school of thought that there is no sense in cleaning, because 5 minutes later it will just be dirty again.  That is hard for me, but it does keep me focused on getting stuff done rather than cleaning up.

I keep repeating to myself, "one more month...one more month!"  We're SO close to being done!

Heather, I hope you got a kick out of this!  :o)  Mom, don't cry. It won't look like this when you guys are up in a month...I PROMISE!

Washington DC - Sunday

Hi all!

I am back from my week long trip to Washington DC.  I went there for a work conference, but decided to go early so I could do a little sight seeing, as it was my first time on the east coast and to DC.  I'm so glad I did!!  It was beautiful, safe, fun and very historic (go figure!).

Here's a bit of show-and-tell for you...

On Sunday, I spent the day sight seeing by myself. It was hot and humid - I felt like I was walking around in a sauna.

This building is one of my favorites - the National Gallery of Art. Seriously, check out those columns!!

I spent well over two hours there. It was beautiful. I had to take my picture in front of the column...they were just so big!

In the center of the building was this...

Again, beautiful! (I found myself saying that every 5 minutes... "beautiful!")

My next stop was the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History...I had to check out the Hope Diamond (sorry, no picture of it!!).

I also saw the original Smithsonian Museum, which is now called the "castle"...I bet you can tell why:

The statue is of Mr. Smithson, the founder of the Smithsonian.

I also went to the Museum of American History and spent a LOT of time there (my favorite museum after the National Gallery of Art).  One of the most moving things I saw was the Star Spangled Banner - our country's first flag.

The people off to the right were in line to get in to the exhibit (sorry, no picture - photography not allowed).

The national mall is over 2 miles long and I was kinda in the middle of it on Sunday. I could see the Capitol building...

And the Washington Monument...

Which stand 555 5/8 feet tall!

To get to DC from Alexandria (which is where I was saying), I took the subway - the Metro.  It was super clean and safe and really easy to use.

I'll post more pictures of my other sight seeing days soon, but I hope you enjoyed some of my pictures from DC!!

My precious...

Being a general contractor has its perks. One of them being finding amazing deals at our suppliers. Check out this beauty we got for our kitchen.

It's a Blanco Medallion. It's stainless steel (brushed nickel). And at Home Depot, it sells for $529....FOR A KITCHEN FAUCET!! I can't believe it. (Yeah, yeah, I know there are more expensive ones, but holy cow, that's a lot for something that shoots water!!)  We got ours for about $400 less than that. Now I can go buy a one-way ticket to Hawaii...or a new TV...or a new wardrobe...or more new things for my kitchen.

I love me a good deal!