From Dust to Bricks: A Texas Girls Take on DC!: BEAUTI-PHILLY!!

Hey Everyone!

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted on here! I have been pretty busy with work and extracurricular things with the Washington Center, but I have finally had time this weekend to make a trip to Philadelphia and want to share a little about that trip with you all.

This past Saturday I got up bright and early and left my apartment around 6:15am to head to Union Station to catch a 7am bus to Philly! The one interesting things about waking up that early on a Saturday was seeing the "deadness" of D.C. It was almost as if I was in a small town because it was literally me and a few others traveling that morning that were out and about compared to the normal days where it feels like you are in an ocean of people. Anyways, once on the bus I had about a 2 and 1/2 hour journey from D.C. to Philly and let's all be honest, I slept the majority of the way! Haha I am sure this will not shock any of my family members seeing as that is not a rare occasion for me at all. Once I arrived in Philly, the real fun began!

This part starts with telling you a little about the wonderful people who I got to spend my weekend and stay with! Some of my family members know them, but many of you do not so I will go ahead and explain. I met up with the two people who I consider to be my "2nd parents", Alyssa or Gute as I have always called her, and her amazing boyfriend Chris. For those of you who don't know, I met Gute at LCU while I was playing softball my freshman year, and along with a few others, she quickly became family to me. She was a graduate assistant when I started so I never got to actually play with her, but this woman is one heck of a softball player even to this day!! Sadly, after Gute graduated in December 2011, she moved back to her home state of California, but no matter how far we are apart we have managed to stay very close and I am so so thankful for that! When Gute introduced me to Chris over Skype one day, I could immediately see that he would be a great fit as my "2nd father". These two even came to visit Lubbock the week before I was leaving to come out to D.C., so we have actually gotten to see each other twice in the past 3 months which has not happened for almost 2 years and I absolutely love it! Any who, Gute and Chris were in Philadelphia to attend the wedding of one of Chris's friends who is actually a professional baseball player for the Minnesota Twins, and when we figured out that I was going to be in D.C. they invited me to come up and stay with them... and of course I said yes! And let me tell you, it was the best decision I have made since being here! So now that you know some background, let the real fun begin!

When I got into Philly I met up with Gute and Chris and we went to grab some lunch at one of my new favorite burger joints called "The Shake Shack"! It is fantastic!! After Shake Shack we walked over to the famous "Love Park" in Philly where there is the LOVE sign. The "O" in the sign is placed on an angle to symbolize that love is not perfect but it can be beautiful in you work at it, which is very very true! After Love Park we decided to get tickets to go on a bus tour around the city! This was definitely a great decision, and probably my favorite part of the entire day! On our tour we got to see Eastern State Penitentiary where Al Capone "served time", I put that in quotes because he really was not treated like a prisoner and was still awarded a rather lavish life style. But who was gonna stop him right? He was Al Capone after all! We went on to see the Philadelphia Museum where the now infamous "Rocky" movies were filmed and we of course ran (more like slightly jogged!) up the stairs. We then saw the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross house, the first ever United States Post Office, and Benjamin Franklin's grave site among many many others. It was a wonderful tour and worth every penny!! I love history and it was like being inside your very own history book, which was absolutely incredible!

After our wonderful history lesson we decided to go inside to warm up a bit and do what every other reasonable person would do, we went shopping at Macy's! Haha let me just say that the Macy's in Philly is HUGE!! I am sure the one in New York is probably a little bigger, but I have never in my life been in one that big! It was great!! And no, mom and dad I did not spend all my money just so you know. After the Macy's we figured we might as well keep up our warmth and headed to the Franklin Mills Outlet Mall. I should also say that in the city of Philadelphia they have no tax, soo it is kind of just an automatic incentive to want to shop! The outlet mall was lots of fun and we definitely did our fair share of walking, just ask Gute! For fear of her hurting me at a later date, lets just say her years of softball were catching up with her ;) hahaha. Any who, after we literally shopped until we dropped, we decided to head to get some dinner, and what else could we get besides Philly cheesesteaks?! I mean I think it is almost mandatory to eat a cheesesteak while in Philly and I have to say my first ever really Philly Cheesesteak did not disappoint! We finished our evening by heading back to the hotel and doing none other than watching college football (the Tech game did not remain on for very long, as it was making me sick to my stomach to watch haha). It was all and all one of my favorite days of this entire two and a half months!

The funny thing is, learning about all of the history and taking in all of the sights and sounds of Philly was not my favorite part of this weekend! My favorite part, as cheesy as it may sound was getting to spend time with Gute and Chris! I have been realizing more and more lately just how blessed I am to have the people in my life that I do. I mean for goodness sakes I rarely even get to see these two and they went out of their way to make sure that my time in Philly was the best it could be! Not only that but I know that they are constantly there for me even when I am not around them for months and years at a time and that is more meaningful to me than any silly trip or tour around an amazing city. I am truly blessed to know Gute and Chris and countless others through my time at LCU and I would not trade their friendships for anything in this world. Sometimes it is hard for me to realize why my life has not worked out the exact way I planned it (i.e. only playing softball for 2 years instead of 4), but when I look back and see all of the lifelong relationships that I have established through just those 2 years, I have no doubt in my mind I am exactly where I need to be. Not only do I have these friendships, I have a family beyond my family. The ones that are there to support me when I need it, to tell me I am being dumb when I am thinking things are great and they really aren't, and to love me in all situations no matter what the circumstances may be. So Gute and Chris, thank you for reminding me that while yall and countless other people who I am lucky enough to call some of my best friends are not technically blood, you are all and forever will be my family!

So essentially, I am one blessed girl!! Not only do I have a family that loves and cares for me more than I deserve, I have friends like Gute and Chris that at any moment can step in and be that family that I need! I love you guys so much, and to all of my other amazing friends and family just know that I love and appreciate you all more than you will ever know. Don't get me wrong, I have always known that I was blessed to have some pretty amazing friends and family, but it is not until I have moved away that I realize just how special those relationships are and I promise I cherish them more than ever now! So simply put, thank you!!

I am going to post some pictures from my weekend in the beautiful city below! I hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful week! T-minus three weeks from Wednesday until Lubbock is home again!!

Love Always,
Kalee