Thanksgiving Week 2011

I have spent the last 10 days with my brother, sister, and boyfriend. I could not have been any happier with the company I kept over this Thanksgiving week. My brother, sister, and I haven't spent time all together in years, so this reunion was exactly what we needed. It was fun to do Thanksgiving the way we wanted to... It was non-traditional but there was still turkey, family, and friends involved.

Sister

Boyfriend

Brother

There was adventuring, laughing, heart to hearts, teasing, and story telling. With high times, there are low times and our cranky moments definitely got the best of us at one time or another- but what's family for, if not to love you for the good and bad.

Jonathan's view of Memorial Bridge

Everyone arrived in DC the Friday before Thanksgiving. The first weekend we checked out the dusk views from the Kennedy Center, went ice skating, watched a movie, and ate Vietnamese food. They checked out the Smithsonian museums while I worked on Monday and Tuesday.

Showing off some skating skills

Warm November day in Central Park

We headed up to New York to spend Thanksgiving at my aunt's in the city. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, cooked Thanksgiving dinner on our own, walked along the High Line, strolled through Central Park, visited the MET, window shopped on 5th avenue, skated with Mokey down the west side highway path, and had dinner in Chinatown and dessert in Little Italy.

Snoopy in the parade

I was able to see one of my best friends in New Jersey and we had a fun night out with our Midland Park friends.

My favorite Midland Park ladies

Time to take me home...

Brother, boyfriend, and I headed back down to DC on Sunday and spent the day watching movies and relaxing. The next time we'll see my brother will be during my road trip to Texas before Christmas. I'm so glad I'll see him soon!

When I think about this past week, my heart feels like it's going to jump out of my chest from happiness. I was lucky to be surrounded by people that I love and that love me. The family and friends that I gathered together come from different worlds but everyone got along amazingly well despite the novelty of the group dynamic. My brother and boyfriend were great companions, my sister and brother reconnected, my boyfriend and my Jersey friends were happy for our newfound relationship, and I feel more at peace about leaving the country in January. This family reunion was much needed and I can't wait to have everyone together again... perhaps this upcoming summer in another country???

No Work on Wednesdays

I babysit between 20-30 hours a week. It's the perfect job to have until I leave DC in one month. It's relaxing to spend time with cute babies AND I get to make my own hours. So, I've given myself off every Wednesday.

Here are a few snapshots from yesterday. What do I do on my day off?

1. Ride around town with my girlfriends. Always take the scenic route.

2. Dress up Mokey. Clothes on dogs will never stop being funny.

3. Dinner party with old friends and some new ones. 10 guests, 9 bottles of wine, 8 some good food.

Skate weekend in Greenville, NC

This past weekend I went to Greenville, NC to visit Ryan and hang out at his skate contest at Fusion Skate Park.

I've always been drawn to the culture of skateboarding. I figure skated, tumbled, and cheerlead competitively. All of those sports have similar characteristics with the grimier counterpart: skateboarding. You have to be independent, confident, spin/jump/balance, and use the solid ground to fly around. I watched 4 hours of boys riding around the skatepark and never once got bored.

Ryan worked hard for 3 hours, landing various switch tricks, and working up a sweat. He was fierce competition and I'm sure everyone knew he was going to place (cash money!)... I've never seen him more focused (or exhausted). We just bought tickets to Vegas and he was determined to win his money back. He rode well and helped his shop, Backdoor Skate Shop, win "Best Shop". Unfortunately, the only personal prize he took home was "Dude that Brings the Hottest Chick" - $20.

Pat myself on the back. Lesson learned: If you're going to be successful, you better have the right lady by your side.

Greenville has a beautiful trail, the Greenway, that wraps around the city and borders a creek. It was a perfect fall day to go to the park, so Ryan and I got on our boards and took Mokey for a run. We skated perfectly paved paths through the woods for 3 or so miles with Mokey intermittently sprinting and running as she pulled us along.

Mokey and I ran regularly together. We'd run 4-6 miles every other day. We had great rhythm- I'd kill myself trying to make 8min miles and she'd speed-walk alongside me. Now, Mokey pulls me on my cruiser and takes off to at least 20mph while listening to my commands of "this way", "that way", "slow down", and "go! go!" There's no other feeling in me but PURE HAPPINESS. It's an exhilarating type of love that I hope everyone gets to experience.

Let the music take your mind
Just release and you will find

You're gonna fly away
Glad you're going my way
I love it when we're cruisin' together
Music is played for love
Cruisin' is made for love
I love it when we're cruisin' together

-Huey Lewis and The News

Glitz and Camping

I've never been to Vegas.

January travel plans are coming together.
Flying to Vegas for a few days of rallying with a great bunch of people then heading out to Zion National Park for some hiking and rock climbing with the boy. So excited! Funny that my suitcase will be packed with slinky dresses, heels and camping gear.

I'm heading to Greenville, NC this weekend. The skate shops in town are throwing an anniversary party and skate contest. I'm looking forward to spending Saturday watching some good skating and being with good company :)

Perhaps I'll try to tackle the mini-ramp again...

Planning to climb Angel's Landing

Training in Boracay, Philippines

Maybe this will be our resort?

I don't find out where my company will send me for my first project until December. I DO know where they are sending me for the training summit in January.

My co-workers and I will be meeting up in Boracay. Boracay is a small resort island in the Philippines. We will be there for a week and I CANNOT WAIT. I've never been to a beach with white sands and clear water. I'll be leaving the northeast in snowy, wet, cold January on a 24 hour plane ride to the warm, beautiful, 85 degree weather, Philippines.

Today, I'm opening a bank account with HSBS. Apparently they specialize in international banking... we'll see if I have enough funds to open a checking account with them.

I'm also going to check out some giant rolling duffels and getting some Vietnamese food with friends in the 'burbs of DC. I like small doses of adventure in my daily life.

Florida and Colombians

This is Leisureville.

I spent two full days in Boynton Beach, Florida visiting my Nana and her sister. It's been 10 years since I've been to south Florida and my weekend trip made me realize that I should make time to visit more often.

Nana and her sister, Tia Olga. Tia giving Nana a helping hand.

On Sunday, we went on a nice drive, stopped by the beach, met a few fishermen, ate some Cuban food, and picked some avocados.

Giant avocados in the backyard.

Fishing for schools of fish.

On Monday, I met my Nana's family from Colombia. Her family is high-energy, friendly, and goofy. Very few spoke English but the the language barrier did not stop us from joking around, enjoying good food together, and building new familial relationships.

Tia Olga's salon always open for business. 

I could understand most of the Spanish but could not speak back. Google Translate was a fun way to talk to my new cousins. They sat on each side of me and asked me questions as I typed in my response for Google to translate into Spanish. I can type almost as fast as I can speak so it was a pretty quick translation. I foresee Google Translate being an important tool in the next two years. The IPhone app is free and translates from voice input to text- amazing.

The last few days I have finalized my travel plans in the US for the next two months:

Thanksgiving holidays: New York City and Northern NJ
Week before Christmas: San Marcos, TX
Week after Christmas: Midland Park, NJ
Week after New Year's: Las Vegas, NV and Zion National Park
Week of Departure to Philippines: Washington, DC and New York City

One more week until Jonathan and Susan come visit me in DC for a few days. I can't wait to see the little brother and sister. It's been over 6 years since we were all together.

So much happening over the next few weeks! I hope I get enough time with everyone before I leave.

P.S.
I perfect flight starts with perfect timing. To me, that means no waiting in line at the kiosk, security gates, or gate. Then a window seat, preferably no neighbors, and sound asleep before the plane takes off. I'm mastering the ability to find that perfect window of time that allows me to board, pretty much, last minute. Wish my luck on never missing a flight!