Trip to DC

So, as most of you know, I lived in Washington, DC as an intern for Congressman Pete Sessions back in 2004 - holy smokes, 6 years ago?? Really? Anyways, it was a great internship and great place to live with so much to see! And, I've only been back once since then. So, when my friend, Katerina, invited me to go with her for a weekend, I had to agree! Plus, we got to stay with Whitney, who lives there and works on the hill.

Thursday, the 17th of June, Katerina and I flew to DC. Quick funny story: flight from College Station to Dallas was fine. We had a layover and stopped at Chili's to get some lunch. About 30 minutes before our flight left, we paid our tab and headed to the gate. There were plenty of people sitting down and we just sat also and waited for them to start boarding. We are talking away and then all of a sudden hear the words over the intercom "Final boarding for Flight xxxxxxx". It was our flight! Apparently, they boarded everyone right before we sat down and apparently, everyone sitting was hanging out waiting for the next flight. It was no big deal, as there were still 10 or 15 minutes by the time they called "final boarding". But, it was pretty entertaining to think we almost missed our flight just be sitting there. However, we did make it to DC and to Whitney's house. Whitney only lives about 10 minutes from the house buildings, so we were right in the center of the city.

Friday and Saturday were spent going to Arlington Cemetery, the Natural History Smithsonian, and the monuments down the mall (Washington Monument, WW 2, Vietnam, Lincoln, etc.) We also walked by the White House and by the Library of Congress and Supreme Court (both of which were closed so we will have to check those out the next time). And, lots of fun eating out in Eastern Market! Eastern Market is just so fun with all of the cute houses, cute little restaurants, fun flea markets, fun people-watching. All A-dorable as Whitney would say. I digress. We also got to visit Whitney's office in the Canon House Office Building and best of all....a dome tour!! Even after living in DC and seeing many of these sights before (except dome tour), I loved getting to see them all again. I really really really enjoyed my time there as an intern and it would be fun to go back more often for the non-tourist stuff. That was one of the nicest things about staying with Whitney! Katerina and I could totally act like we owned the town!

So, the dome tour was obviously, one of the most awesome tours yet! Whitney knew someone in the Whip's Office so we tagged along with some other people for the tour. The rules for touring the dome of the Capitol are that you either have to be with the Whip's Office or led by a congressman. As an intern, this was not something I got to do. I forget how many steps you take up through to get to the top - but I think it's something like 300. It's a long way up and when you get to the top of the inside, you cannot imagine going any higher. Here is a picture of the painting on top of the dome "The Apotheosis of Washington". This is what it looks like for the average tourist on the floor of the capitol:
And this is what it looks like when you are at the top behind the railing:
And some other pictures:
And, then just as you think that is too awesome and you are so glad you got this tour, your tour guide takes you higher up and outside to the railing right below the columns that have the Statue of Freedom sitting atop. Here are some pictures:
I also wanted to post a picture a picture from something cool that we did. We had been walking the mall for awhile and it was super hot and humid outside! So, we get to the Lincoln Memorial and just as we are about to leave, Whitney and her friend Patrick who had accompanied us for the day, took us to the back of the Lincoln Memorial. There is nothing to see and nobody really walked back there, but it was so nice and calm and peaceful and looked out across the Potomac and towards Arlington Cemetery. It was just so nice to sit for a little bit and visit and not have the crowds of tourists around. Here is a cute picture of Whitney and Katerina!
Overall, it was fast-paced and Katerina and I were both really sore from all the walking and stair climbing we did, but had a great time. Plus, we both read Harry Potter on the flights and since I am loving Harry Potter at the moment, it made it even better! Especially since on one flight I got stuck next to a woman who tried to point out a bird that she saw flying at least a 100 miles away. That is no big deal except I politely told her I couldn't see it and she continued to point it out to me. Now let's think about this here: it is sometimes impossible to point something out in a big gigantic sky to someone else. But, she was extremely persistent. Finally I saw the dumb thing and thought my conversation with her might be done. Oh no - as we were landing, she pointed to a lake and asked "Is that real water?". I mean, I am easygoing, but I was more than ready to be done with that flight. I digress again! Thank you Whitney!!! We are ready to come back and crash your house to visit again!!!!

Huey Family Visit

The 2nd weekend in June, our good friends Todd & Emily and their sweet almost 9 month old baby, Haley, came to stay for the weekend! We had not seen any of them since Haley was born in September, so we were really excited for them to come! We spent the weekend visiting, eating, playing with Haley and watching her wonderful schedule of food, play, naps, over and over again (Vic wished his day consisted of 12 hours of sleep at night and 2 naps each day!). We also played some Chicken Foot while listening to music from the 90's - gosh, we are really growing up!

Fortunately, Vic fell in love with Haley and he told me after they left that he was pretty sure Haley didn't want to leave him....oh my - so conceited. Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Todd, Haley & Emily

Also, Todd helped Vic put up a new light fixture since we are slowly wanting to get rid of the gold fixtures and replace them around the house. It was pretty funny because Vic and Todd went to Lowe's early in the day to pick one out and came back deciding that I needed to go with Vic to choose. Todd made some comments about this one fixture with wheat on it and was laughing (totally not Todd's taste and it did sound sort of funny). Well, what did Vic and I come back with after the 2nd trip to Lowe's? The wheat decorated fixture. But, that totally is our style and fits our décor, and we love it! Anyways, with Todd's help (and by help I mean he ended up doing most of the work since he was teaching Vic), it got put up and we love it. Makes our kitchen look even homier. This is my favorite picture of Todd working and teaching Vic while Vic stands back and just watches; it actually took 3 tries to get it up because they keep leaving one little part off. I think Todd was sick of light fixtures by then! But we were so thankful because now that we've been taught, we can do the others in the house ourselves!And Vic had to put the "wheat heads" on - they were rubber wheat that attached at the very end!

Also, here is a picture of Vic playing with Haley - she really liked those peppers on the wall so Vic took her back to them constantly. And, he liked showing her the mirror! He is going to be a very fun daddy!
Also, Todd's dad lives in the Houston area so he came up for the day to see them while they were here. And, of course he had to see his baby granddaughter! I thought this was a sweet picture....
And, I can never leave out a good picture of food - this is what we ate on Saturday night - tuna, tilapia, salmon, asparagus, rice, YUM!

It was a great weekend and we were sad to see them leave...just another family we wished we lived closer too!

Our CPA

Well, a few weeks ago, Vic, his parents, his sister and I all met in Austin for a weekend to celebrate Vic being officially sworn in as a CPA. While he received his license back in October and has been using his CPA status ever since then, they also have an official swearing in ceremony. So, of course, we all wanted to see him walk across the stage, get sworn in and do anything else to make this official since he worked so hard last year studying and taking those tests.

You know, it really is amazing to think that only a year ago, he was still in the middle of studying and at this point, had only passed 2 of the tests, I believe. He never stopped working and has the most dedication of anyone I know, when it comes to going for something he really wants. There was never any goofing off and while I do tease that I was without a husband for those 8 or 9 months, I am so proud of him and glad we got to celebrate in Austin.

Other than the ceremony that lasted about an hour and a half, we spent the weekend walking around downtown Austin, eating, and hanging out drinking cheap beer. Well, I actually just drank lemonade because it was pretty hot and humid outside! See some pictures from our weekend below...

When we met in Austin, we were all wearing the same color and very fun jewelry!
Jill, Janice and Steve awaiting the ceremony to begin. They did not have enough room for all of us; so while it looks like empty seats in this picture, by the time everyone was in the room, there were lots standing in the back and sitting in the aisles.
His walk across the stage....
The official certificate...
So, we got this great bumper sticker and I would totally put it on my car, but Vic would not let me. He promised we can find a place in the house for it...
And a family picture!
That afternoon after lunch, Vic, Jill & I headed down the street to the Texas Capitol.
That evening, we went to the Roaring Fork restaurant. It was pretty fancy! We ordered a delicious bottle of wine...and check out that food - it was definitely as good as it looked. Then, when we ordered dessert, the waiter surprised us with the "congratulations" on the plate!
Extremely proud parents who are so thankful their hard earned money no longer goes towards college tuition, CPA course fees, etc.

And, the weekend ended. But, it was a great one and it is nice to have a CPA in the family (another way to slowly work my way to being a SAHW (stay at home wife...) Just kidding! I love my job and do NOT want to leave...unless I have twins. Then, maybe. Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself here....

Colorado Vacation Part 2

Okay, so Thursday morning we all packed up to leave the hotel in Colorado Springs. Steve, Patricia and Kristofer drove back with Taylor's U-Haul and Taylor, Mary, Whitney, Vic and I headed to Golden, Colorado to visit the Coors Plant. This part of the trip was more geared towards just hanging out now that Taylor was done with graduation, and relaxing and laughing and talking and eating and sleeping in and seeing the countryside of Colorado! All some of my favorite things!

So, long ago Taylor promised Vic a visit to the Coors Plant in Golden, Colorado. Vic had been excited for a long time and was actually disappointed not to see a framed picture of himself when we walked in the door. I mean, we have purchased enough Coors Light since we've been married alone, to have ownership in the company, because we've given them so much money. If you cannot tell, Vic really enjoys a nice Coors Light on occasion...

The tour was great; first of all, they do not charge anything. They send you on a self-guided tour through the plant and you have your own walkie-talkie like headphones. You stop for a sample of beer at one point. And, then at the end of the tour, you get 3 free beers on tap. They actually produce other beers besides Coors (Blue Moon, George Killians and probably others). But, one of the best things was the Coors Light they had that was 10 degrees colder! Even I had one of those. Vic and Taylor, of course, drank all 3 of their beers; we bought a couple of souvenirs (including Reefs flip flops for Vic that have a bottle opener in the soul....no, I am not kidding.); and headed on towards Keystone for our condo in the mountains! See below for some pictures!

Whitney, Taylor & Mary on the bus to the plant.

The beer being brewed in giant copper containers....

The first sample.....

Fun facts...

The bottling and boxing portion of the plant....mass production is one of my favorite things!

Vic finally drinking his "Coors Plant" Coors Light!

After the Coors Plant and eating pizza and salad in Golden, we headed on towards Keystone to stay for the next 3 nights. As we approached our exit to Loveland Pass and began to take it up into the mountains, I got so excited! There was lots of snow still to see and it was just so pretty. It was definitely getting high and we were definitely driving on the edge of mountains, but I trusted Taylor completely, as he has driven in these conditions before, and was being very safe. However, as we start to climb the mountains, Vic gets really quiet. The next thing you know Taylor is asking Vic if he needs air, if he needs to pull over, etc. Vic was getting a little "edge of mountain sick" feeling. While he was fine, he just didn't love the idea of driving on cliffs and preferred to concentrate on the inside of the vehicle instead of the ground far, far below!

About this time, I started to remember our honeymoon and the day trip we took driving down Highway 1 on the Pacific Coast's beach. We were on the side of mountains there also and everyone was driving like maniacs, and we were both a little on edge at the end of the day. It was fun, but just not what we were used to!

So, 2 funny comments by Taylor (and these may not be verbatim):

Taylor to Sarah: "A memo about Vic's fear of heights might have been nice before this trip." It was pretty funny, because as a wife, I really should have thought of that...oops!

Taylor while driving the past a guardrail, that was between the road and dropping off the road, that did not look so good: "Looks like somebody ran into that one". Needless to say, that didn't make him feel any less easy, but was pretty funny; even for Vic!

So, we made it up the mountains and then down into Keystone to our condo. Let me just say - it was all beautiful. Keystone was just cute and I can picture it covered in snow with lots of people skiing. The condo was great and comfy and homey! We got groceries for the week that night from Dillon, CO (right down the road). And, settled down for the remainder of the week.

I have to say that on Friday, we were all bums. Our day consisted of reading...see Vic...
watching TV, napping, sleeping in, visiting, and then finally gathering ourselves to go eat dinner at Dillon Dam Brewery in Dillon. They brewed their own beer, obviously, and dinner was great! Here is our first "scenic mountain background" picture of Vic and I outside the brewery...

That night we took advantage of the hot tub for a few hours and then headed off to bed!

So, on Saturday, we spent less time laying around. Here is Whitney being adorable and enjoying her vacation....as we all did!!
But, for the rest of us, Taylor and Mary took Vic and I up the mountain in "gondolas" (NOT A BOAT). They were sort of enclosed ski lifts and took us up to the top of the mountains (about 11-12,000 feet).It was a nice slow ride and not scary at all, but Vic still felt the need to protect himself as much as possible. This is a picture of Vic sitting as close to Mary as possible (the door was on the opposite side of the gondola) to make sure he didn't fall out...this was before we even left the ground.

And here is a picture of Taylor laughing at Vic while Vic holds on with two hands - one above and one below...Vic would rather be safe than sorry. Oh and the hand you cannot see is gripping the seat....

Mary & I on the gondola

We reach the top, step out and the next thing you know, we are walking in snow. Vic has only seen snow 3 times or so in his life, so he was excited. He thought we should take our Christmas card pictures that day.....but he thought it would be funnier if we were in our swimsuits. While that would be pretty entertaining - I promise I will never send out a Christmas card of us in swimsuits!

It was all so beautiful and of course, we had to take some shots with the gorgeous scenery behind us!
So, as we are about to leave, we have to jump a couple feet down off of this little snow bank onto the ground and Vic asks if I can take his picture like the young kids do of him jumping. Have any of you noticed that apparently, that is a fun thing to do now? 5 people stand side by side and jump all at the same time and someone snaps a photo of it? It definitely makes cool pictures sometimes and Vic really wanted one (like the young kids of course!). So, here is the result...

Impressed?
And a picture of Taylor and Vic (after we left the top of the mountains) pretending to be bad guys locked up in the kids "jail" in the little town of Keystone. And Taylor riding a buffalo. Just want to remind you - we've got a 2nd lieutenant in the United States Air Force and a CPA and CFO of a Texas state agency. Apparently, Mary and I could not be luckier....?

After we left Keystone, Taylor drove us to Lake Dillon for some more picturesque shots. Mary actually told me that at my Memaw and Pawpaw's house, they have a framed picture of Pawpaw in front of Lake Dillon. I can picture it in my mind and think it is so fun that we were also there taking pictures!

We headed back to Keystone (more pictures!)
and then back to the condo to the wonderful aroma of Whitney's enchiladas she was making for dinner. It was our final night in Keystone and in Colorado and we had a wonderful dinner to finish it off.
And, our final picture of the day at dinner....notice Kristofer's empty seat between Taylor and Whitney - we missed you!!!!
And our group photo on Sunday morning right before leaving....

It was a great trip and Vic and I cannot wait for 2 things:

1. Visit Colorado again (but without taking Loveland Pass through the mountains if we stay in Keystone....).
2. Vacation with the Veretts again!