Home sweet home

I got in really late Monday night and am just now getting settled back into the swing of things. The house is a wreck and I've got a lot to do but right now I'm drinking some (de-caf) coffee and watching foxnews. So I will have to conquer those piles of laundry and stacks of dishes...later. :)
The trip was amazing!! I had such a great with sweet Kristin and we did a lot of really fun stuff. I got there on Thursday afternoon and after she got off we went to her house and dumped our stuff before going to the new 911 Pentagon Memorial. It was very powerful and a terrific monument to the people who died seven years ago. The memorial had been dedicated that day and they still had a military band and choir out there. The music was beautiful and the images were very powerful. They had a bench with a reflecting pool underneath each one for each person who was killed. And each bench faced either the Pentagon or away from it based on whether they were on the plane or in the building when it was struck. A lot of the relatives had visited already so there were flowers and pictures on most of the benches. Please go there whenever you visit DC, and I think it was even more special because we went at night. So try to go after dark. :)

On Friday I went in to work with Kristin and hung out a bit before going on a tour of the East Wing of the White House. A lot of people were on this one as you can get a pass through your Congressional office and that was great but I was disappointed in how casually people dressed. Some were wearing shorts and t-shirts even! I know that most of us were tourists but still! Come on, people, you're visiting the WHITE HOUSE!! Okay, done with that rant. :) I hitched on to a group who had a guard who was leading a tour and I learned some neat facts. He was a pretty interesting guy as well! Quite the character. :)
Friday afternoon was probably the neatest thing that I've ever gotten to do in DC. We were able to go to the South Lawn of the White House and greet the President when he came in on Marine One. That was very exciting and very loud! I've never been that close to a helicopter before! He got off and was only about 20 feet away from us! There weren't very many people there so we were at the very front so I got some good pics. He was very happy to see everyone and took a while waving and smiling. It even seemed like he waved and made eye contact with each person. It was a great experience and very neat how he was so excited for everyone to get to be there and he recognized how important it was for us. He's been getting off that helicopter for almost eight years but he still took the time to smile and wave for everyone. Then when we were walking back we saw the Presidential doggie water bowl so I took a pic. Too funny. :)

That night we went back to Kristin's house and one of her sweet roomies made pancakes, bacon, and eggs for us. YUM! (Sidenote: Kristin's roomies are AWESOME! They're some of the coolest girls ever and they make me wish I had had the opportunity to live in a big house o'girls.)

Saturday we had a lazy morning, or at least I did. Kristin went for a run and then mowed their lawn before I even got dressed. She's a hoss. Good thing I rested though because we had a very loooong day! We went to Eastern Market and browsed through a ton of clothes, paintings, jewelry, food, fruit, and pretty much a ton of stuff. We went to a great used book store and I spent a ton of time looking for books on my "Good History Books" list. And success! I found 6 of them! So I should have plenty of reading material to last me a while. And we went to a neighborhood garage sale that ended up being one lone table. However, I found some cute bags and a roomy top, all for $4! After that we hightailed it back to the White House where we found everything roped off. We changed clothes in a coffee shop and were able to do a West Wing tour! So amazing! It was great to get to see the Oval Office, Roosevelt Room, Cabinet Room, and the Rose Garden. Very cool!!! Here is a link to the White House website where the President and others give video tours. It was very exciting to see so much that I've only ever read about or seen in books or movies.

Saturday was a long and tiring day and it felt so good to get back to Kristin's house, take a shower, and make a huge dinner. :)
Sunday we went to Kristin's church and heard a great sermon and I got to meet some of her friends. That afternoon we rested a bit then did a little shopping and ate some pizza that night and watched the movie "Hitch".
Monday I went to work with Kristin again and after some yummy cinnamon rolls made by her co-worker I went to the Holocaust Museum. Again, something every person must do while they're in DC. It was incredible. There were a lot of people there but everyone was extremely quiet and moved silently through the exhibit just trying to take it all in. There weren't a lot of children there but I would think it was suitable for some young people. There were some disturbing videos but they were very strategically placed so you had to consciously choose to watch them and wouldn't just happen upon them. I started out walking very slowly through and reading everything but I realized it would take me all day to get through the museum so I had to scurry through the second half. I got back in time to hang out with Kristin before she walked me to my bus stop. And then I rode a bus for four hours, walked a mile through NYC, and took a very late train (after I missed an earlier one), before finally getting picked up by Tim around 9:30. It was such a fun trip and I'm so glad that I was able to go!!! And if you've been able to read through all of this, here are some pictures as a reward. :)

The spot where the plane hit the Pentagon.

3,000 flags set up at the Pentagon.

On the South Lawn just after the President arrived - it was windy!!

George W. himself!

Kristin and I.

The Press Room where the newsmedia attempts to eat Bush or the WH spokesperson alive.

In front of the White House.

Cooking in Kristin's kitchen!

And the view of the White House from the street.