jesse's visit

it is safe to say that i had a fabulous time hosting jesse last week!

though it's been four months since we have seen each other, it felt like no time at passed, and though i can't speak for him, i had a really wonderful time.

rather than recap the nitty gritties, i thought a 'highlight reel' might be more suitable. (photos below and on smugmug are a combination of both mine and jesse's.)

in chronological order:

1. raleigh

spending time with colby and julie is always a good time. this trip was made even better by the fact that i didn't get a speeding ticket (which happened the last time i went down), i still made it in record time, colby took me to sonic, cooper climbed the stairs, we saw harry potter in imax 3d, and jesse and colby replaced my brake pads (which had gotten so bad that every time i braked they made an awful grinding sound my radio had been masking for who knows how long) for a whopping $20 price tag...along with an iou for baked goods.



2. dc

my agenda for our dc day was ambitious and we didn't even come close. we never made it to the art gallery or archives, but we did hit the history museum, spy museum, washington monument, and the lincoln, ww2, korean, and vietnam memorials. the most enjoyable part of the day for me was enjoying a leisurely lunch at the sculpture garden cafe. it was delicious, and made for a perfect place to wait out the passing rain storm.





3. tubing

tubing is one of my favorite local outdoor activities. there is just something about floating by harper's ferry that is both relaxing and entertaining. because it was technically a weekday, the river was pretty quiet, so we were able to take our time, and didn't have to negotiate with other tubers when we decided to repeat one of the more fun rapids. harper's ferry itself was also enjoyable, and made even more so by the yummy peanut butter chocolate ice cream i had.






4. buffy

what can i say..it's buffy! the pre-show was immensely enjoyable--particularly the random volunteers who were asked to reenact a classic angel/buffy scene with the twist of the girl playing angel, and the guy playing buffy. they did a hilariously incredible job, and jesse and i were both awed that the girl needed to prompting from the screen on her lines. she had it down pat.

the show itself was a sing-songy good time, and though i never did get jesse singing along, he was happy to blow bubbles, pop confetti, and sport vampire teeth as necessary. i recognize what a surreal experience this must have been for him and the others who are not familiar with the show, but he was an excellent sport.



5. gettysburg

not too long ago, i heard from a very good high school friend that she would be in town. it had been years since we had seen each other, though we have tried to stay in contact as often as possible. the fact that jesse was in town made a meeting slightly more complicated, so the most obvious solution was to have her join us for our gettysburg excursion.

unfortunately, my tour guiding skills have turned out to be less than stellar. i simply don't have the recall that allows for interesting stories or significant events relating to places like gettysburg. fortunately though, the electric map served as a good jumping off point, and the auto tour julie and colby had lent us helped fill in the gaps. to do it right would have required more time than we had, so we did what we could and enjoyed the company and the scenery. and i enjoyed one of the best neck massages i have ever had, thereby resulting in my new secret nickname for j: 'magic hands jesse.'

again i realized that my tour guiding skills were less than stellar, but we listened to the electric map presentation and utilized the auto tour julie and colby had lent us, to work our way through the points of interest. we were there for several hours enjoying the scenery, the history, and the company, before making the drive home.




6. udvar-hazy center

like many of you, jesse saw a lot of pics of the hazy center after my party in april. i had sold it well and he was excited to see it. this was the last thing we did before i dropped him off at the airport on monday, and it was a fantastic way to send him off. he absolutely loved the museum--it's nearly impossible not to, and we spent hours wondering in and amongst the aerial artifacts. in fact, we spent longer than anticipated, so he was slightly later to the airport than initially planned. but, he made it, and made it safely back home.




all in all, it was a great time. as was the case in march, jesse took incredibly good care of me, and i can only hope that i did, in some small way, do the same for him.

not an actual post

just a quick note to say that i have not fallen off the face of the earth.

jesse headed back to ca today, and i head there tomorrow, so i haven't had nor will i have time to breath for a little while longer.

during the last few days, i have been in five states, and there are about 600 pics between j and i that i am hoping to work my way through while spending uncomfortable amounts of time in airports (and adding two more states to the list) over the next couple of days.

bear with me..and keep your fingers crossed that all goes well in california!

let the madness begin

i have been preparing for my life to get crazy, but it happened a little sooner than expected.

though i was supposed to teach today, on friday, i was feeling completely overwhelmed at everything i needed to accomplish before jesse’s arrival. especially since the day after he leaves, i will be heading out to california for a couple of days (if you want more info on this, feel free to email me!).

as such, i called the trusty sunday school president, and he let me off the hook. so, saturday was ‘prep’ day. i cleaned my car and my room, hunted for water shoes (for tubing day), and took care of a few other things before hopping in the shower and getting ready for lara’s ‘bachelorette’ party.

lara picked me up and we headed to ned devine’s, where we met up with two other friends, kathryn and valerie.


kathryn had gone to great lengths to make this a memorable evening for lara, and aside from attaching her veil immediately upon arrival, she whipped out a book she had created with tasks to be accomplished.

tasks included things such as practicing putting the ring on her betrothed’s finger, having someone put a garter belt on her, practicing eating cake by feeding and being fed marshmallows, and practicing the aisle walk by finding a gentleman to escort her to the bathroom. each task had an assigned point value for an attempt, as well as successful completion. each task had to be witnessed by one of the ‘witnesses’ in the bachelorette party, and signed off on by the gentleman helping to complete it. the goal was to reach 100 points, which would ensure a successful marriage. all props were provided, and the book was attached to a sash that read simply ‘bride.’


it was clever and absolutely darling, and of course made for a fun evening as we perused the bar looking for willing victims. lara was a good sport and i am happy to report that she achieved her goal and is now guaranteed that successful marriage!
the music wasn’t fabulous, but there were a few songs that allowed us the opportunity to hit the dance floor. though kathryn and valerie are both ‘new’ to me, we all had a great time!


after lara dropped me off at home, i had just made it inside the door when i saw a car with a giant birthday cake on top of it pull up in front of the house. it was 1:30 am, so i couldn’t fathom what might me going on, and i went out to check on it.

i was shocked to find susie and sarah chapman exiting the car.

as a part of lynn’s delegate campaign, he ‘and company’ created a float and participated in the leesburg fourth of july parade. on the float was a giant cake that said ‘happy birthday america.’ the chapman’s had altered and customized the cake and brought it over to celebrate mom’s birthday today!

though i had hoped to see her initial reaction this morning, i slept in, and when i did get up, i got the best news ever.

as a part of the agreement allowing kate’s move out of state, kendyl’s father ronnie gets her for six weeks this summer. they met kate half way yesterday to pick kendyl up, but since they are not required to ‘share’ her, we had no idea whether we would see kendyl or not. it was a wonderful surprise to have them offer to bring her to celebrate mom’s day.

mom, dad and i were all like expectant fathers..pacing the floor, looking out the window, and waiting for her arrival. finally she came, and i think it was a miracle none of us broke down in tears.


it’s been almost exactly a month since kate and kendyl left, and we have all felt every minute of it. last week when i called kendyl to wish her a happy birthday, she got off the phone and said ‘i love you tara,’ which of course, was my emotional undoing.

to see her today was the best thing any of us could have wished for. though she was tired, she was excited to see all of us, and we got to spend a couple of hours with her while getting caught up with ronnie and his fiancee jess. as it turns out, they are moving about five miles from us, and are planning on sharing her much more than we could have hoped! this is especially good news to me, since i have no idea how much longer i will be in the area, or how many more opportunities i will have to see her.



eventually, it was time to say goodbye, and kendyl, who has always been hit or miss about affection (i think she takes after me in that regard!), made the ‘goodbye’ rounds. she gave nana kisses, then said to me ‘want kisses?’ of course i said yes, and she ran into my arms and gave me big kisses. then we went to find papa, at which point she said ‘i need kisses!’ how darling is that?!

it did all of our hearts wonders to see her today!

the rest of the evening involved a celebration of mom’s birthday at the chapman’s, and a fireside by one of my favorite local speakers ever, before returning to the chapman’s for dessert.

all and all it was a fun AND productive weekend. i had a lot to accomplish since so much of my time this week and next will be spent playing and traveling. one more day of work, then it’s on!

you're welcome

try this

7 wonders

07.07.07 was a big day for many reasons. people i know got married (even though i didn't), and the new seven wonders were announced. there have been other seven wonders lists, none of which made any sense to me at all.

but this one, i've been watching for some time now. why? because checking off lists gives me a weird sense of accomplishment. i'm a virgo, it's out of my control!

with that being said, the new seven wonders are as follows:

the great wall, china
petra, jordan (check!)
christ redeemer, brazil
machu piccu, peru
chichen itza, mexico (check!)
the colosseum, italy
the taj mahal, india

there were lots of great choices, and votes have been coming in from all over the world for the last 6 years. if it were me, i would swap the acropolis in and the brazilian christ out, especially since the pyramids of giza retain their status on the 'ancient 7 wonders' list. then again, i've never seen the acropolis, or the oversized christ statue, so it's just conjecture on my part.

2 out of 5...i've got some traveling to do!