Week In Washington D.C.

I spent this past week in Washington D.C. at the Association for Accounting Marketing conference. I had never been to D.C. so I was hoping to get some time to venture out and see some sights. The conference was great and I came back with some great ideas to bring to the partners of the firm and on top of that I was able to see some history. It was such a neat city, very busy and historical that I really enjoyed my time there. I don’t think I could live there, but it was fun to visit. I was able to see the White House, the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the Freedom Wall, the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, the FBI Building, the Treasury Building, the Vietnam Wall, the Constitution, the National Art Museum and Chinatown. Oh, yeah, I also saw the theatre where Lincoln was shot and the house where he died in. Whew, that was a lot, it was also a lot to see on foot. By the end of all that I couldn’t even feel my legs as they were hurting. All of the architecture on the old buildings was just amazing. For an art lover I really loved being able to see the original paintings of Picasso, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Da Vinci, Monet, etc. at the National Art Museum. I even touched the paintings…naughty me! I just couldn’t help myself. The Da Vinci painting was encased in glass, but not the Picasso or the other ones…so, I just had to touch. Sorry! Chinatown was pretty sketchy, but I did go with another male from my association so I felt somewhat safe. I am so glad I didn’t go by myself because I was planning on it since I haven’t eaten authentic Chinese food in a very long time until my peer asked to go with me. I am so glad he did because once I got to Chinatown I was clutching my purse like crazy. I would have loved to get a picture of it because it was eclectic and very interesting with this Chinese arch at the entrance of Chinatown, but I didn’t want to look like a tourist for fear of being a target. I loved Chinatown, and the food, so much that we went back for another night for some authentic Chinese food. I am glad I got my Chinese fix because who knows when I will be able to get it again.

The Vietnam War Memorial


The Abraham Lincoln Memorial


The Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial


Me at the Washington Monument with the flags behind me


The White House

While I was gone the girls got to sleep on the bed with Andy and let me tell you they loved it. When I did get home that first night Izzy was not wanting to share space and Madison seemed annoyed there was no room for her on the bed. Oh, well, mommy is home and I am very glad to be back in Phoenix with Andy, the girls, Captain and where there is no humidity.

I know I am guilty of not writing a blog post in two weeks and I really have no excuses for you so hopefully I can make up time in one post. Andy and I have spent the week with my parents, niece and nephew. Oh, don’t forget my parent’s shit-zuh’s too. Yes, we had four adults, two children, four dogs and one cat all in our humble abode for the past week. It’s been fun and it’s always great to be able to spend time with family. We have spent the week soaking up the sun in the pool, shopping, mini-putting and indoor skydiving.

Yes, I said indoor skydiving. There is this place in Eloy, AZ where you can sky dive, but also indoor sky dive too. My mom, Tayler and myself did this because Andy ha d to work, my dad and Kyle just weren’t interested. I was questioning if the cost was worth the short period of time you spent actually skydiving, but once it was over every second was worth every penny I paid for. Once we arrived we sat through a five minute video that explained how this works and the instructor has you hop on what looks like a wooden horse so you can get the formation correct. The instructor teaches you hand signals that he uses when you are in the tube because it’s so loud you can’t hear each other. So, I had the formation and hand signals down, the next thing was to get suited up. We had knee pads, jumpsuit, ear plugs, goggles and a helmet. I was happy for the safety and all but it was so freakin hot in that jumpsuit, but I didn’t complain and I went with it. As the three of us begin to enter the “waiting area” to the tube it was voted that I go first. I was ok with this as I wasn’t nervous at all until I walked up to the entrance of the tube. It was really loud and I had to put my hands up to my chin and fall forward while the instructor helped get me into my formation. For those that know me, I have an issue with walking over grates on the street. I don’t know why I have this issue, but I just do. I will never walk over a grate unless I absolutely have to and even then I will run across as fast as I possibly can. So when I stood at the entrance to the tube and looked down it looked like a giant grate that you can see down to the ground where the wind comes up from. Ok, this was a bit scary. I decided to just look straight ahead and never look down at that scary grate because I really wanted to follow-thru with this activity. Once in the tunnel it was insane and pretty awesome. The pictures below say it all. At the end of my time limit in the wind tunnel the instructor grabbed hold of my suit and spun around so fast that he took me to the top of the tube. We went up so fast it was pretty scary. I had so much fun with this that I would definitely spend the money to do it again. I don’t know if I could actually sky dive, but I sure had fun with the indoor skydiving. I wish Andy was able to go with us because I am sure he would have had fun too.

Tayler, My Mom and Me


This is when the instructor grabbed hold of me at the end and spun me way up the tunnel.


Me skydiving!


Look at me go!

The kids also spent a ton of time in the sun in our pool. So much time that I am extremely exhausted from joining them. The sun just wore me out, but surprisingly the kids are still in the pool tonight for one last swim before they leave first thing tomorrow morning. We did manage to get the kids out of the pool long enough to take them to Cracker Jax one evening for mini-putting, bumper boats and race car driving. Oh, they also got to do bungee jumping there too. They had so much fun in Arizona this week that Kyle said he is moving here when he is 18 and will plan to go to ASU. That’s my boy! He loves the heat and kept saying all week how he wants to move here. That’s about 8 years away, but I might start the countdown now! Ha ha!

Camping Weekend

Last weekend, following the big engagement, we went camping with our friends like we have done the past couple summers. Not much different from past camping trips except we had a few newbie’s to camping...our friends Mike and AJ and then baby Stella. It was Stella’s first camping trip and let me say for a five month old she did really well all weekend. Well, let’s just say this baby is always good, so I wasn’t surprised that she was pretty content all weekend camping in the woods. This was Izzy’s second camping trip and let’s just say I don’t think camping is her thing. She just didn’t seem to be herself all weekend until we started packing up the tent on Monday to head back. Then the Izzy we know came out full force. I just think she doesn’t like laying on the ground or getting dirty. She always preferred sitting in a chair over the ground. She also doesn’t like being tied up to a tree. Madison and Izzy are used to running free in our backyard so being on a leash all day is no fun for either of them. Madison likes camping though, but I really don’t think our princess Izzy cares for it. Too bad though because we are going camping again this summer so hopefully she will learn to like it. Anyway, here are photos to show our camping weekend.

Andy and I with the girls in front of the fire.


Me and my baby, Izzy.


Madison and Izzy lounging on the Aero Bed in the tent. I guess it was much more cozy than the dirt ground.



Five month old Stella and her first camping trip.