Vacation

Well it's definitely been a while since my last post.  Sometimes I feel like I run out of things to say, so I don't just want to write a blog post for the sake of blogging.  I really like to use this as a way to keep in touch with family and friends, but I don't want to waste anyone's time by talking about the boring day-to-day stuff.  Fortunately, we've been pretty busy recently, so I have lots to talk about!

First, Billy and I took an anniversary vacation to Washington, D.C.  We've been married 4 years...I can't believe how the time has flown!  A lot has changed in just a few years...some of it has been wonderful, and some of it hasn't been so good, but we are so blessed to have each other to lean on.  I really don't deserve Billy...he is so kind-hearted and gentle.  I really couldn't ask for a more respectful and devoted husband.

So anyway, back to our trip...we had a great time.  The weekend flew by, but it was great to get out of town and have some time to ourselves.  We got to sleep in, which was AMAZING, and we also visited some fun places and went to some great restaurants.  We saw the Lincoln Memorial, went to the top of the Washington Monument, visited the National Zoo, and checked out the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum.  We ate out at two VERY fancy restaurants, which was new and different for both of us.  They were the kind of places that offered you options when you order water, like filtered, iced, or sparkling water.  One restaurant served us dessert with gold leafing on top....hilarious.  It was so fun, though.  Here are a few pictures... 

At the National Zoo

Going to our fancy dinner...this was in the hotel before we left

Stopping by the White House...very early in the morning!

Visiting the Lincoln Memorial...I had never been before!

 We also had a great hotel.  We stayed at The Madison, which was within walking distance from the National Mall and the White House.  It was a swanky hotel, with valet parking and all sorts of amenities.  My favorite was the Keurig machine in our room, with complementary tea and coffee!  Because we were in downtown D.C., we literally walked everywhere except to dinner.  I think we walked about 10 miles on our last day there, because of some poor planning on our part.  It's kind of a long story....

Four years ago, we visited D.C. for the day to celebrate Billy's birthday.  We visited the museums and saw some of the sights, and decided to go to the Washington Monument.  By the time we got there, the ticket booth had closed and they had stopped doing tours, and Billy was kinda bummed.  I promised that the next time we were in D.C., we would definitely make it a priority to go up in the monument.  So this trip, we decided to do it.  On Saturday, we walked over to the monument (about a mile from our hotel) but they had already given away all of the tickets for the day.  We were told that they sell out really fast, so we should get there at 8:00 the next morning.  So, Sunday morning, we got up at 6:45 and walked to the monument again.  We got there at about 7:45 (after stopping for coffee on the way), and there were already about 100 people waiting in line for tickets...and the booth didn't open until 8:30.  After waiting in a long line (and the drizzling rain), we finally got our tickets.  They were for the 11:00 tour that morning.  So we killed some time by going to the Lincoln Memorial before heading back to our hotel to shower, pack, and check out.  We checked out of our hotel, got our car from valet parking, and then started driving toward the monument.  That day, D.C. was hosting a triathlon, so they had blocked off all the streets in the National Mall area, so you couldn't get within a mile of the monument.  We drove around in circles forever before finding a parking spot on the street, and ended up walking almost 2 miles to the monument...in less than 15 minutes.  We raced like crazy to get there for our 11:00 tour, only to find out that it doesn't matter what time you show up, as long as you have a ticket.  So we got all out of breath and sweaty for nothing!  But we finally went in the monument.... =)

Because of all the walking in D.C., I got a boost in my weight loss this past week.  Typically, I've been losing about a pound a week on Weight Watchers.  Last week, I lost 3 pounds, which brought me down to my second weight goal of 143...so I've lost 16 pounds in a little less than 2 months!  I'm very happy with where I am right now, but I'm still going to try to lose a little more just to see where I can go with it.  But if I don't lose any more, I'm not going to complain...I'm very happy with where I am because I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight (actually, a little lower than that!).  Anyway, I'm thankful for Weight Watchers and how much it has influenced and changed my eating habits.  

That's all from me for now!

-Kristen