Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The Countdown Begins!

Hey everyone!!

First off, I am very sorry that it has taken me so long to update the blog. I have been so busy with all of my wonderful visitors over the past couple of weekends, I just haven't had the time but I am super glad that I do now.

I honestly don't even know where to start telling you about all of the wonderful experiences that I was able to have with my bestfriend and my parents and aunt these past two weekends. To put it simply, I am blessed beyond measure and I could not be more thankful to be surrounded with the most amazing friends and family a girl could ask for.

To start off with, my best friend Madi came in on Thursday the 17th and we had an absolute blast together. Due to my work, we basically had to do everything on Saturday the 19th, and let me tell you, we walked, and walked, and walked!! However, we accomplished so many things that Saturday and I couldn't have asked to have a better person to spend that time with. I am so very thankful that I was able to share this city with her and I love the time that we got to spend together. Not to mention, my roommates and friends from TWC loved Madi and told me they were definitely able to see why we are best friends which makes my heart so incredibly happy. Thank you for all of the fun times twin, I am truly blessed to call you my best friend/sister and go to for anything.

The following Wednesday the 23rd, I was blessed with the arrival of my parents and Aunt Kelly who flew in from Denver to see me. We got to spend 5 wonderful days together and I am so so thankful for the wonderful times that we had. My boss even invited them to stop by work on Thursday for lunch and we had a wonderful time talking about all things sports (Well at least my dad and my boss Doug talked while the rest of us just sat back and happily listened haha). On Friday I had to attend Global Citizenship Day at TWC during the day, so they got to go on the DC trolley tour to see the sites instead. Later on that evening, I was able to meet up with them and go to a great Italian restaurant in China Town (Yes, Italian in China Town sounds a little risky, but trust us it is amazing!! If you ever see a Vapiano in your area, go to it!) before heading to the Washington International Horse Show where we got to see an amazing show full of very talented riders and horses,and even military tributes because it was military recognition night. The following day, Saturday, was the day that my daddy will tell you was the only "mandatory scheduled event" he had on his list while he was here, and that was to watch the Tech vs. Oklahoma football game. So we decided that we would have a nice evening at my apartment, in which my momma and aunt cooked some amazing enchiladas and we had wonderful family time watching the game together. Even though the outcome wasn't what we wanted, I wouldn't trade that amazing feeling of being right at home watching the game in my living room being surrounded by the people that mean the most to me. It is funny sometimes how you take such small things for granted, and sitting around the TV watching sports with my family is definitely one of them. The next day, Sunday, was the day I dreaded since my family got here, the day that they were set to leave. However, I refused to be sad that day, because I was getting to celebrate the birthday of two of the most important people in my life, my momma and aunt! For fear of them killing me for saying their age on the internet, I will just say that it was one of those "somewhat milestone" birthdays, and I am so so glad that I got to spend it with them. We spent the day going to the Holocaust Museum, and then walking around the reflecting pool and up to the Lincoln and back down to the White House. It was quite a journey, but well, well worth it! After we walked our butts off and essentially starved ourselves for the day, we went to a place called Legal Seafoods for dinner. (Shocker here, but it is also in China Town! I am telling you that place has some amazing eating establishments) Our dinner was AMAZING to say the least and we were treated very very well by the staff their!
The worse part about the dinner was leaving, because that is when it hit me that once we took the metro back to my apartment, that was going to be it. They were going to get back in the car and leave. I have to say up to this point, I had been able to keep my emotions pretty well in check for the most part and have not really had a breakdown moment. But when we got back to the apartment and headed back outside to say bye, my emotions no doubt got the best of me. I know that my momma and daddy and Aunt Kelly already know this, but I shed a few tears and they did too, but the best thing was hearing all of them say that they were proud of me and loved me very very much! Even though I already know that each day, it is just a great thing to hear, especially when you are feeling kinda down.

So. Now that I have had time to digest the happenings over the past few weekends I have come to realize a few more things. Number one, I don't need to be sad or upset that my family is no longer here, while I would love for them to be with me every single day, I realize that I have grown up so much in my short time here and being without them has taught me so much. I know it sounds silly, but I realized that I can do things on my own and that I am strong enough to live on my own! Although I will admit that I am happily looking forward to being back in the comfort of my parents home when I get back in 6 short weeks, but it is just comforting to know that I can do things on my own. Number two, I realized how rewarding having a "hard working" internship really is. At first I was upset that I had to work during a few of the days that Madi and my family were here, but I realize that that is what happens in real "grown up" life. You don't always get to choose when you want to have off or to even stop working when you are on vacation, and having this internship that pushes me to work hard each and every day has been an overall great experience.

Number three, and perhaps the greatest thing I realized is that I have a whole new "Countdown" to look forward to in the coming weeks. For starters, as I mentioned earlier, I will be home in just 6 short weeks! That may sound like quite a while, but with how fast these weeks are flying by I know it will be here before I know it and I am going to do my darndest to enjoy every minute that I have left here in DC. Next on my list is in just a little over 2 weeks (Nov. 16th and 17th) I will be going up to Philadelphia to visit and stay the night with a few wonderful friends from California and I am so so excited about it. Then 3 short weeks after that, (Dec. 7th) my wonderful brother Karson is coming to DC to visit and help me with my packing to get ready to come back home. Finally to top off the whole "Countdown", I will be graduating from LCU in exactly 44 days!!! How crazy is that! I can't even believe that in a little over a month I will officially be a "grown up"! And of course there are all of the holidays coming up, and although I am missing Thanksgiving for the first time ever with my family back home, I no doubt will be able to have a great time here in DC with my new friends and roommates.

Needless to say, I have had some of the best times possible these past couple of weeks here and I will keep all of these wonderful memories with me forever! I am looking forward to all of the things that I have listed on my "Countdown" and I am most certainly grateful for all of the amazing things that I have been blessed to do and accomplish thus far. DC has been an experience that I will never, ever forget and I am so very thankful that each of you have stuck with me through it all. I will do my best to keep you up to date with work and all of the happenings going on in and around TWC. Until then, please know that I love and appreciate you all so very much. I apologize that this post is so long, and I hope that I haven't rambled along too much. I will post a few pictures below to give you an idea of some of the amazing times we all had!

Have a great week!!


One of Madi and I's adventures at the zoo where we were finally able to see the panda up close!
My roommate Jasmine, Madi and I went on a "night walking tour" to the White House and the Capital
Our seats at the Washington International Horse Show! It was an amazing night!!
My wonderful and amazing Aunt Kelly and Momma on the night that we celebrated their birthday at Legal Seafoods. It was a fantastic night and the food was to die for!! So glad I got to spend this special day with them!

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