185 Days Later

I can not believe that we have lived in Washington D.C. for six months. It seems only a brief moment ago we were at Chestnut Street. In my stint as a Northerner, I have found many things to be different. I felt like I would do a little comparison of what our life was like six months ago in Oxford to how it is today. I have rightfully titled it:

Then vs. Now

Oxford- Mild winters with a chance of wet, icy snow in March
Washington, D.C.-Frigid winter with snow in January

Oxford- Personal Car
Washington, D.C.- Public transportation and walking

Oxford- Southern accents
Washington D.C.- Northern/Bostonian

Oxford- Two bedrooms, bath, hallway, kitchen, large living room, and a patio
Washington, D.C.- Studio apartment with no hallway and no clear establishment of bedroom and living room

Oxford- $15 lunch
Washington, D.C.- $40 lunch

Oxford- Slow traffic only during football Fridays, lunch hour, when class is over, or about to begin
Washington, D.C.- Traffic is at a constant stand still

Oxford- Ten miles in Oxford is really far
Washington, D.C.- Ten miles is totally in walking distance

Need to be somewhere

Oxford- Leave five minutes before with time to spare
Washington, D.C.- An hour before we are finished getting ready, we either walk to metro with thirty minutes to get where we need to be or we walk outside and wait for a taxi to take us through traffic only to be late on both options

Oxford- No jacket because car is warm
Washington, D.C.- Three layers plus scarf hat and gloves just to walk two blocks to the corner market

Oxford- Fifty degree weather is cold
Washington, D.C.- Fifty degree weather is a heat wave

Oxford- Summer it is hot and humid
Washington, D.C.- Summer here is hot and more humid. Hard to believe but true.

Oxford- $700,000 will buy you a house that includes 5 bedrooms, 4 1/2 bath master suite, three car garage, greatroom, formal dining room, wood flooring, fireplace, granite throughout and 10' ceilings, and a pool. Square footage: 4,500
Washington, D.C.- $700,000 will buy you a house that includes Two bedrooms, one and a half bath with living room, kitchen, basement, and patio. Square footage: 880

Many things have changed in our six months here, but one thing is certain. Lauren and I are making the most of our time here and we have grown even closer and more in love than before.

And that my friends is worth losing all the finer things in life.

This is what it looked like outside when we left our house for work this morning. Lauren took more pictures and will upload them soon.

One Year Later...

Happy ONE YEAR wedding anniversary to me and Wesley!

Yesterday, January 12, 2009 marked our one year anniversary. We are so proud and excited to make this first big milestone in our relationship. We have had a very full and exciting first year - first living in Oxford, then moving to DC and living in an apartment the size of a closet, to moving again a month later down the street to a much better apartment! We have both gotten new jobs, met new people, and had to leave our friends and family behind. It has been a hard year, but also a year that we know we will be able to look back on and be proud of. We thank all of you who have prayed for us during this first year because those prayers have definitely been felt in our everyday lives. As we embark on year TWO, we continue to ask for your love and support. We couldn't be more excited!!!!!!!!!

A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.

I am talking about stereotyping. I understand we all do take part in this act, but why? Where does it get us? History shows us that it is not always accurate. For instance, statistics show that mass murderers are more likely to be white males, but does that make all white males murderers? No. Suicide bombers are statistically Middle Eastern men, but does that make all Middle Eastern men suicide bombers? Obviously not. I could keep going, but hopefully you are following me.

People stereotype daily and I doubt for positive reasons. How is judging positive? It's not. In the recent weeks since we returned to DC, Lauren and I have had the honor of being blatantly stereotyped.

Stereotype 1: Young people do not have money.

Lo and I went shopping in Maryland to find me some dress shoes. We walked in Saks for Men and the stereotyping began. We browsed the shoes without being asked if we needed help. Note: There were 4 shoe people there standing around watching. I picked a couple of shoes and stood there for a minute. Finally, a young guy comes out from the back room and asked if I had been helped. Picture this: I'm standing in the shoe department with several shoes for the right foot only. Did it look like I had been helped? He would not have known this since he was in the back, but the others did. The young guy ended up being very helpful to my needs. As I tried on the shoes, a foreign couple walked through. Two of the workers threw themselves onto this couple.

Stereotype 2: Foreign people have lots of money.

As I was trying to decide between two of the pairs, I decided to ask the shoe-lady her opinion. Snootily, she replied. "No. They are not dressy enough." I could have lit into her, but decided not to. After trying on several pair we decided to make a purchase. Lauren took the shoes up to the counter. The shoe-man turned and said "Oh..you want me to put those back?" Now if you know my wife, you know shopping is her passion AND that she is very feisty. Politely, (although furious) she said "Actually, we want to buy them, BOTH of them". OHH! Was his reaction. I mean seriously.

PS. I bought the shoes the shoe-lady said would not work. They do work. She's an idiot.

Stereotype 3: Mississippi is worthless and should not be a state in our country.

Yes. Someone said that. I could have choked the ignorant bitch. New Year's Eve, we were at dinner and a group of ladies sat next to us. One of them carried on about Mississippi and how it is the worst state in the country. I'm done with her. Moving on.

Stereotype 4: Young people do not have money.

See a trend? Last night, Lauren and I had a wonderful 1-year anniversary dinner. We ate at Charlie Palmer. If you are ever in a city that has this restaurant, I highly recommend it. We brought a bottle of Dom Pérignon to celebrate (thanks Marge!). Now, CP has waiters and also beverage servers. Our waiter had no idea we had champagne. She wasn't very observant. In the beginning, she rarely visited our table, gave us the wine list only after we asked her twice, and was just not as helpful as she could be. During our entrees, Lauren asked her if we could have some more champagne. She pulled the bottle out, saw what we were drinking, made a face, poured our glasses, and BAM she had a change in how she viewed us. While I was in the restroom, she came two times to check on how we were doing. She came back again several times after that and was OVERLY nice to us. We also got free dessert. Not sure if that was because of our anniversary or our champagne choice. Totally Amazing.

Why do people stereotype? Our waitress did it to us twice! I cannot write here today and say I do not do this because I do, but why? It boggles my mind. In all instances but #3, there were not any physical characteristics that would label us rich or poor, yet because we were young, poor was our label. Little did they know they were right. But seriously, what have young people done (or not done) for society to place this stigma on us? Can we not be successful at a young age? I leave you with to ponder.

Until Next time.

How a meeting gets you thinking

As I write, I am also listening to a guy talk about the history of the United States Capitol. While it is very interesting, I actually have already learned the things he is discussing. For those readers who haven't been to DC in recent times, the capitol opened their new visitor center. The architecture is absolutely beautiful and visitors now have more to experienced than previously. Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is that it has given me the opportunity to begin my 2009 blogging adventures. Lo and I have traveled all over the place including DC, Vail, Nashville, Columbus, and then back to DC. We enjoyed the break and are trying to get back to the "normal life", WoLo style here in DC. We will be traveling extensively throughout the country in the Spring too. Trips that are already planned include the cities of Gulfport, Columbus, New York, Charlottesville, Nashville, Orange Beach, Rosemary Beach, Oxford, Dixon and........... I believe that's it for now. Wow that's some kind of travel.

2009 is going to be a pretty historical year. In DC yesterday, the two Pres. Bush's, Pres.-Elect Obama, Pres. Carter, and Pres. Clinton all had lunch together. This has not happened in twenty seven years. My mother told me I should write this moment down. I just did. It actually is really cool. It makes you wonder what they talked about. Did they talk about politics or just shoot the shit? I'm gonna go with the latter.

Next week we should have some pretty interesting blog entries about the inauguration. While I did not vote for Obama, I do wish him the best.

So my first entry of the year has come for all to read. Many more to come!

Unexpected Visitor.....

So Monday just happened to be one of THOSE Mondays. Late for work.. too many rude people on the metro bumping into me... freezing rain.. busy day. One of THOSE days. Wesley and I get home from work and I have a missed call and a text from Jordan reading, "Crisis." Now, if you know Jordan she is not going to cry crisis without a reason. Not remembering what day she gets back from Belgium, I immediately think she is in Paris and something has happened. Wesley and I both give her a call with no response. About ten minutes later while we are talking about what's for dinner, I get a bling on my phone from my facebook app. Wesley picks it up and reads a post from Jordan...

"So... I'm sitting outside your apt... rang the door a few times... no answer? Ps I'm staying with you tonight.. I'm just going to sit here bc my bb is dead. Come find me."

WWWhhhaatttt!!! Wesley and I both run outside to find a jet-lagged Jordan standing theree!! Yayyy! I was so excited - it turned my whole day around. We went and ate Mexican and met up with Jackson for a drink. Then she was off to Nashville at 5:00am the next morning. What a fun little visit.... everyone loves fun unexpected visitors. :) loves to joey :)

Gotta Love Vera.

Has anyone seen the new trailor for the movie Bride Wars? Well, there is this GREAT quote that I totally agree with and I want to share it.

"You do NOT alter Vera! You alter yourself to fit Vera!"

Never a truer statement.

Happy New Year 2009!!!

Okay, so we didn't really spend New Year's in London, but I thought it would be festive - New Year's... I work with the Brits... you get it. Okay, I tried. Anyway Happy New Year to all (even though it is 7 days late.... can you tell I am stretching out one post into multiple posts just so I look like a good blogger..) I always think New Year's is a little overrated - you're "supposed" to go out and drink great champagne and have a fabulous time. I just think that's a little too forced, so this year we had a low key night. Liz Black and her boyfriend Ryan were planning on coming in town, but at the last minute her meanie boss wouldn't let her off work (yall come to DC sooooonnn!!). So Wesley and I went to dinner at Chef Geoff's and then went to a party right across the street from our house. Then we had movie day all day on Thursday.

Anyone have any good news resolutions? I have one to announce that I am really going to try to keep up. I am going to stop screening phone calls. Honestly, I am. No more screening. If you have any resolutions to share, then add a comment! HNY 2009!

Okay, so we're the worst bloggers ever....

I know I can go ahead and say that I am not a good blogger - I would actually perhaps say pitiful at it. Wesley, on the other hand, can usually keep up and add posts every week for your viewing pleasure. Well, lately we have been totally horrible and we apologize for that. We are up and running - back in business!!

December...
Since we basically missed the entire month of December, I am going to do a quick update on what has been going on in our lives. Wesley and I both had birthdays and got another year older - is it weird we met when I was 19 and Wesley was 22.... we're so much older now!! Time flies when you're having fun. :) Hmmm somewhere in the mix I decided it was a good idea to become a red head...it is slowly fading out now, but let's just say it wasn't Wesley's favorite hair color that I've tried out! The week of Wesley's birthday we flew to Vail, CO and met my parents for a week of skiing. It snowed the whole time, so there was TONS of powder which made for great skiing. We all "skied within our zones" so no one got hurt...haha. We went to great meals and had so much fun as a family. I can't wait to go again next year... hehehe. We then flew straight from Denver to Nashville and drove down to Columbus for Christmas week. Instead of showing up on Tuesday night as we had told Wesley's parents, we surprised them and showed up on Sunday. We got them good (okay, I had to have my one glory moment as a trickster!)!! We had such a fun and relaxing week spending time with Wesley's family. What a great Christmas. Sunday we flew back to DC and back to reality...

We will be much better bloggers in the new year!!