of course it was cold in florida

So I was in Florida two weeks ago for work and ending my four conferences in four weeks. So I was tired and just couldn't wait to be home! But I was looking forward to some sunshine as I was going to Florida after my cold cities in Indiana, Ohio and New York, but noooope, mother nature had other plans in store. When I was there (the last week of March) it was COLD. Tuesday was a high of 61 and it was windy, the low on Wednesday was in the 30s - it was technically warmers in the morning in DC.  But I took advantage on Tuesday to travel to a National Park! I went to Canaveral National Seashore which is about an hour from Orlando. And despite the chilly weather I did take a walk on the beach and enjoyed the sunshine!

National Park # 66! Woooooooo :)

Walking down onto the beach!

Nothing I love more!

So then I had a few fun filled days of conference life. Orlando was a bit crazy - so it made for a long few days. I just kept counting down until Sunday! So since the spring set of conferences is ending soon we celebrated Easter with a staff lunch out! All decked out in our Easter gear - we had a staff Easter egg hunt before we left!

Ladies lunch in Orlando - the whole staff this week was female!

Heather - my PC partner and I in our Easter bonnets!

So I flew back home on Monday morning and it was SO nice to be home! I relaxed and cleaned, laundry/all the fun things after being gone for 4 weeks. And then on Tuesday the boy and I went for a hike - it was a bit chilly but just great to get outside.

Gorgeous views of Virginia - the Shenandoah mountains are in the background

The rest of the week was uneventful - I was in the office 3 days this week. It was kinda crazy, but so nice to know that at 5pm I was done for the day! I'm looking forward to the next few months of just being in the office prepping for the summer. I enjoyed catching up on tv and just enjoying some quiet nights in. Friday night though I headed into the district to get my Cherry Blossom 10 miler bib for race day on Sunday! It was a gorgeous evening to be out and about and walking along the mall. 

This morning Patricia and I went on an adventure to MD so I could add a few more National Parks to my list. We went to Catocin Mountain Park and Monocacy Battlefield.

My trademark photo with signs! National Park # 67!

Patricia and I after a little frolic through the woods!

Pretty views!

Catocin has a neat history - FDR originally had the CCC and other WPA projects done here during the Depression and created a presidential retreat here. So somewhere in the park is Camp David! And then we drove a few miles away to Monocacy and learned all about this important battle in 1864!

July 1864 - Battle of Monocacy in MD

So now I'm off to bed, getting up super early tomorrow for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler! Wooo! I'm excited, though I haven't been running much. Hoping the Cherry Blossom's have bloomed more since I saw them on Friday - the cold weather has kept them from blooming! How have your last few weeks been?

new york city

After a few fun filled days in Westchester for work I was off to NYC on Sunday afternoon for a few days to relax between conferences. Sunday was St. Patrick's Day and all day long I wanted to be back in Cork and enjoying the day there with trad music and a pint of beamish. I had a wonderful St. Patrick's there in 2009 right before I left. I lived in Ireland for 2 years total - 19 months between 2007-2009 and then 4 months in 2005. But I was looking forward to going out with Suz and Meg this year!

So I took the train from Westchester and met Suz, Megan and other one of their friends Beth in midtown. They had been to a few other places before I met up with them, and the weirdest part was at this bar - The Perfect Pint we ran into 2 other girls we graduated high school from. What are the odds out of how many Irish bars in NYC for the 3 of us to run into 2 other girls from HS. We chatted for a few minutes and then escaped to another table - I haven't seen these girls in 10 years since we graduated.

Meg & Suz. I've known them both since 2nd grade and Suz was the first person I met when we moved to Green.

Meg was reserved - I was broken... Our table had a broken sign on it and we thought it was funny.

Suz, Meg and I

 So after we enjoyed a few pints and catching up around 9 we decided to head home. As the 3 of them had to work the next morning and well I was exhausted after the conference. But on the way home for stopped for a real Irish treat - a Shamrock Shake! It was delish! Suz and I just hung out chatting and finding a new gem of a show to watch. Myrtle Mannor on TLC. It is a "reality" show shot last summer at a trailer park in Myrtle Beach, SC. Absolutely hilarious!

So Monday morning I was off exploring the city. So my goal of the day was to visit some National Park Sites. There are a ton in NYC but a lot of them are closed on Mondays... Boo! But I did go to General Grant's Tomb up in Riverside Park! It was cold and gross out - but still fun. I did have a few NYC firsts - rode the bus system, lost my metro card I had just put money on and saw it snow and went all over Manhattan from

 125th to the Lower East Side. I also wanted to try to go to St. Paul's Church but it was up so far north - aka out of the city and I got a late start due to work taking longer in the morning than I expected. But I also did head to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum which I had been to before in 2009 with students and they are affiliated with the NPS system but not an official but they do have a park stamp. So I got it and walked around the area and while in the bookshop at the museum got all excited looking at the different books on Irish and Immigration History. I miss studying it so much! 

Grant's Tomb - I took better pictures on my real camera but don't have the cord and my work computer doesn't have the memory card slot. 

Julia Grant and Ulysses Grant's tombs and the awesome mural of Lee & Grant at Appomattox

And then after my adventures of going all over Manhattan I went and got a much deserved mani/pedi and then I met up with Suz for a great dinner and it was snowing like crazy and sticking! Here was a view from dinner - we went to this cute pub type place and with the candles and snow falling it looked so quaint in the middle of NYC! 

So Tuesday was my fun travel day. To go from NYC to Albany I had a layover in Dulles. So for 2 sunny hours I was back home in Virginia while I went from snowy NYC to an even snowier Albany where it was snowing when I landed yesterday evening. Love the crazy of a travel day - luckily no delays!

And now it is time to kick off another conference! 

march so far

march has been great so far. but it is a crazy month. i'll be in my office for 2 days this month (both have already happened) and i'm traveling for work for 26 days with 20 of them in a row, and then 3 days of fun travel. i'm currently on day 2 of 20 of travel for work. so here are my adventures so far. 

yup - double knee brace skiing! i went with the boy to central pennsylvania and went skiing for a weekend. it was great to get out skiing again! and while the first few runs were rocky as i was rocking double knee braces by the last runs on sunday i was tearing it up down blacks. 

 

a little bit of ZTA pride for International Badge Day. I love my Zeta Badge and everything it stands for. 

  my day at o'hare last week. last tuesday i spent 6 hours in the airport hoping my flight would still be taking off so i could get to ohio. i found out monday morning that my original flight from chicago to columbus was cancelled so i was prepped to spend 5 hours in o'hare. luckily i had a united club pass and well i couldn't think of a better place to use it. 

so i spent 5 hours doing work in my office ---- while i waited for my flight and had snacks and did work and caught up on tv while doing it. so i had a pretty good day! my flight was slightly delayed but considering 80% of flights from o'hare were cancelled i couldn't complain! though i was exhausted when i finally got to the hotel!

woke up to this view outside my window of the ohio capitol building covered in snow! and then kicked off a fun conference in columbus!

a fun teambuilder - using  rolled up paper as light sabers and beating each other up! here i am beating up ali and then a program coordinator love picture after!

so then sunday after we finished work we went on a little adventure. so another co-worker paul mentioned the world's largest basket and he has some story about it and why his friends will never let him go. so because of that i was like i am getting to that basket. so jean and ali came with me and we had a fun 45 minute drive to newark, ohio and had a fun photo shoot with the basket. it is 7 stories tall and it the headquarters of longaberger baskets. and a fun way to spend the afternoon!   sunday evening i headed back to virginia for 36 hours. where i saw the boy and had a day in the office doing a million things and catching up with coworkers who weren't traveling that week. and then monday night was the end of an era. 

a kinda short era but one nevertheless. as we know friendships evolve and change as we get older and mj, patricia and i all met summer 2009 when we were coworkers at all of our first conferences. at the end of the summer mj stayed in dc, i moved to nj and patricia went back to kansas. i saw each of them separately a few times but it wasn't until fall 2010 we were back together in dc working conferences again. and now patricia had moved to dc as well and we were all in dc for a few months summer 2011 when i lived there for a bit and when i was in charleston we saw each other whenever i was in dc. and then for 7 glorious months we were all living in dc after i moved here and had almost weekly dinner dates if not bi-weekly. and in december mj got engaged and is getting married in may and while there was talk of moving i didn't expect it so soon - i was guessing summer. but last week mj's fiancee got a job in utah. and they are moving in mid-april. while i am so happy for them it just sucks that one of my closest friends is moving across the country. (and it is weird my friends are moving and i'm not the one bouncing around!) and also patricia moved in with her boyfriend last week too. so a lot of big news. so the crazy part is with my redic schedule and mj's the only day we had with all 3 of us in town before the wedding in may was monday night. so we did a quick plan for dinner and had a great night catching up over the last few weeks since we last got together. and got to see patricia's new place! so i'me excited for the new adventures and friendships to grow and hey, trips to utah! 

so tuesday morning i was back on the road. headed to westchester, ny for my next conference. and it was a gross rainy tuesday. my flight from dca to philly was delayed and i just barely (seriously 30 seconds) made my flight to westchester. after i landed in westchester i had calls from us air letting me know i was booked on the 4:20 flight and then letting me know the 4:20 flight was cancelled. sooooo glad i made that flight! but it was the worst flight ever. 45 minutes of turbulence in a propeller plane. and looking out the window you only saw white from the clouds - it was rough. i had such a headache from it. 

so now kicks off a weekend of fun in westchester for a conference and then i can't wait for sunday! i'm headed into the city to see suz for a few days and to play in nyc! including a little bit of st. patrick's fun on sunday! which i'll need! and i can't wait to hit a few of the manhattan national park sites on monday! then tuesday i'm headed to albany for another conference and then the next week to orlando! i won't be back in dc until april 1st! crazy crazy crazy. but i wouldn't have it any other way!

how has your march been?

february is over!

Seriously February flew by! I don't know how it is the end of the month already! The last two weeks have been busy busy busy! I went home for a long weekend for Presidents' Day and enjoyed seeing my twin on Friday night - I stopped by her & Andy's house and caught up with them, as the last time I saw them was their wedding in August! Then I enjoyed my weekend at home seeing my family and just enjoying Jersey! There is just something about it! My sister and I saw Safe Harbor - gotta love a Nicholas Sparks movie! And then my gramma was over for dinner. Monday I headed back to Jersey kinda early as I was leaving Tuesday morning to head to Indy and I needed to do laundry and re-pack!

nothing like cliff's ice cream - even when it is 15 degrees outside!

So Tuesday was my first State travel of the spring! It was weird flying since I haven't been on a plane since July! I was flying almost every week from February to July last year and then nothing for 6+ months! But I was off to Indianapolis and looking forward to it. I'd been to Indiana two years ago for work - and loved it! So I flew in Tuesday and went out with my coworker and her friend and watched the end of the Indiana-MSU game and it was fun being in a bar in Indiana watching the #1 team play in a very close game! Wednesday we headed out on an adventure downtown - I wanted to explore the State Capital which you know I love!

woooo for another capital!

So after walking around downtown we headed to this great burger place and then headed back to the hotel to get things set up. It was a good conference - overall. A few hiccups but nothing crazy and it was fun. MJ was working this weekend too so it was nice to have her around! I survived my first session as a State PC - so yay for that! I'm off to Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday for round two!

The fun was Sunday night - I met Amy's parents for dinner and had a great time with them! I haven't seen them in a little over a year so it was nice to catch up! I can't wait to see them in May in Charleston for Amy's graduation! And Sunday night was glorious to lounge around in my lovely hotel room and king size bed and just relax and catch up on tv I've missed! Monday morning I flew back to DC and I've enjoyed my week in the office getting ready for the next few sessions! Especially that I'm gone the month of March for work! Wooo - Columbus, Westchester, Albany and Orlando! Especially Orlando! I'm heading there early (sadly the flights for Austin didn't work out) but I going to go to a National Park site and the beach since I get there early! 

And in other news... there is a new boy in my life. I've been seeing him since mid-January and he is pretty awesome. I went on a really interesting string of first dates from December-January and this one was a pleasant surprise! Since the first date I've seen him about twice a week and it has been hard with my crazy schedule but he has one that is just as crazy as mine. So in a way it is kinda good as he understand when I'm like yeaaa - so I'm home for 4 days in March. So the details - he is 30, from Texas and works in government (as does everyone in this area), was in the Navy and enjoys backpacking & camping/the outdoors and I really enjoy spending time with him! 

So how was the end of your February?

recently

so heeeeey february... i'm really slacking on blogging in 2013.  so i've been a mix of busy and quiet the last few weeks and need to work on my wanting to be on my computer when i'm home.  so i've mostly been hanging out with friends - doing dinners a few times a week and being quiet on the weekends as work has been kinda crazy.  but saturday i did venture out and get my first national park of 2013 in! 

i went to fort washington - just across from alexandria, va in maryland. it is an old fort from the 19th century similar to fort mc henry, fort sumter... and your other atlantic coastal forts. so it was fun to get another fort in. it was a bit cold & windy but i can't wait to go back on  a nicer day as there were some nice hiking trails and it would be fun to go picnic there!

park #62

looking up at the fort from along the potomac

cute little lighthouse

love the cannons

so many national park passport stamps there!

so work has been busy busy busy. we just had a 5 day training for our next round of conferences for our staff. so i was teaching a lot this week and it is just so exhausting. it was fun though because these are our traveling conferences which i've done a few times so the staff is mostly people i've worked with in the past, which is fun, but now i'm their manager which adds a new dynamic to it all. but i'm ready to start traveling! it is nice that i'm in the office all this week and don't start until next week! my spring is pretty crazy but i'm excited to go to new places and see friends!

but i'm headed to:
feb 19-25: indy, indiana (work)
march 5-10: columbus, ohio (work)
march 12-17: westchester, ny (work)
march 17-19: nyc with suz
march 19-25: albany, ny (work)
march 25-26: austin, tx
march 26- april 1: orlando, florida (work)
april 9-14: columbia, south carolina (work)
april 15-17: charleston!!!!!!!
may 3-5: san diego/newport beach, cali - mj's wedding!
may 10-12: charleston for amy's graduation

so a interesting schedule the next few weeks - march i'll be traveling for 4 cities in a row, so it should be a bit crazy, but i'm looking forward to it! i need a little travel time - lots of flights coming up!

and then despite knowing what program i'm working this summer i went ahead and did the mega-ticket for 8 country concerts from may-september! i'm most excited about seeing luke in may! woooo! i'll probably have to miss 2-3 in june/july depending on what i work, but it was too good of a deal to pass up! you know my love of live country music and there is just nothing like a great concert in the summer! so very looking forward to that!

but before i head out on my travels i'm headed to jersey next weekend - i haven't been home in a bit and with the schedule i'm not sure the next time i'll be able to. plus my parents are moving sometime the spring and i'd like to go home and bring more of my boxes back to virginia.

how was everyone's weekend?

2012 in review

2012 was a very interesting year for me. More uncertainty than I'd ever had - and while that was stressful I had a great year and never expected I'd end up where I am right now. 2012 started out slow but got super crazy by the summer with all my traveling and then moving to Virginia at the end of August! So total I went to 18 states - with 2 of them new Colorado & Wyoming! 

So here is the month by month recap:

January: A quiet month with a lot of physical therapy, I decided to work State again and training in DC where I got to see my DC friends! 

dc fun

February: Still lots of physical therapy and issues with knee braces. Superbowl fun with Meg & Suz, lots of NJ ZTA time!, substitute taught in NJ for most of the month , Boston conference, my last great grandmother died at 98 and trying to enjoy the month in jersey! 

superbowl fun

March: Still lots of subbing! Going to Chicago for a conference and having a wonderful time there -  lus it was 80 in March! After my conference in Princeton I was given the ok to go back to Charleston! Woooo! Finally! It was so nice to get to go back home to Charleston!

Chicago!

April: Back in Charleston! Woooooooooo! April was a busy month with being back in Charleston and taking advantage of everything there. I also subbed a lot and also had conferences in Atlanta & Irvine. Atlanta was a blast and I got my National Parks Passport! Which only set off my obsession! Went on a lot of first dates. And I went to Denver to visit Annie and fell in love with that state!

exploring Charleston with Amy - Old Sheldon Church ruins

Atlanta fun with coworkers!

NPS Passport!!!!

Fort Moultrie - you can see Fort Sumter in the background!

 

COLORADO FUN! Yay for seeing Annie!


 

May: Super busy! I subbed almost every day! Watched a lot of hockey with the Devils in the playoffs! Had a fun weekend in Columbus, Ohio with a conference. My aunt came to visit Charleston. And enjoyed going to the beach every chance I could! 

Columbus state capital

with my aunt in SC

spent a lot of time at Sullivan's Island!

June: Kicked off 7 weeks of traveling! Jeanne's bridal shower & bachelorette in New York. Had a few 36 hour visits to Charleston and saw a Phil Vassar & Dustin Lynch at Party in the Park concert, went to Denver for a conference and then went camping in Rocky Mountain National Park for 3 days! It was a blast and I saw a moose! I loved all the hiking and just taking in the most gorgeous scenery! And my quick last minute trip to Wyoming where I enjoyed lunch in Cheyenne!  Another conference in Houston and then a surprise trip home for a job interview, but I enjoyed being in jersey longer than I had planned for twin's shower - and a fun hiking trip with her & Andy. A few hours in Charleston before headed to Philly for a conference at UPenn.

Jeanne's shower

gorgeous sunset in Charleston at Party in the Park

Rocky Mountain National Park fun!!

Woooo! State #34

hiking with twin at the gap

co-worker fun on UPenn's campus!

July: More interview fun at another school in NJ (aka I got to see my parents a lot this summer). A fun weekend at Yale for a conference (the Mean Girls quoting weekend!) And then a wonderful weekend for Jeanne' & Travis's wedding!! 10 days in Charleston - it was glorious! Working a session of NYLC in DC and celebrating my 27th birthday being super excited to get passport stamps on the National Mall and catching up with my DC friends!

Yale conference fun!

Crew loves at Jeanne's wedding!

summer 2011 loves reunion! froyo for life!

happy 27th birthday! woo! passport stamps!

August: Continuing the FA fun in DC and interviewing for the position here, spending quality time with MJ & Patricia after the conference, spending a lot of time in the car driving between NJ & SC and stopping at as many historical sistes I could! Reuniting with my big for a fun time at the beach, twin & Andy's wedding! Finding out I got the job in DC!! Wooo! Packing up and saying goodbye to Charleston, my parents coming to vist Charleston to help me move! And going to my first Civil War 150th at the Second Manassas.

a fun night with MJ & Patricia

my big & I! Hadn't seen each other in 6 years. 

Twin's wedding!

mom & dad in Charleston

Fort Sumter with my parents

September: Started working!! Wooo, and the fun of apartment searching. Stayed with MJ while I was looking and had fun with her roomies. Drove 8 hours in one day for the Luke & Jason concert with Momma & Kelly and then drove home for Grandma & Pa's 60th wedding anniversary dinner,  moved into my apartment. Continued with my 150th Civil War with Antietam, enjoyed getting to know the NoVA Zetas with a Redskins game, enjoying my National Parks in the DC area and just loving getting to see so many of my friends.

with MJ & her roomies at UVA - we went to say hi to Thomas Jefferson!

<3 amp="amp" i="i" momma="momma" sister="sister" td="td">

J-E-T-S!

150th at Antietam

My Apt!

yay for fun DC days with friends!

October: Kicked off the month by going home for an Army football game with my parents and the NNJZTA Think Pink game with the Giants! Moderated a panel for work, went to see Zac Brown with friends, a hilarious night in Baltimore for kspice's bachelorette where I met a guy with my same name (so freaky!) a hilarious trip to Skyline Drive with MJ & Patricia, lots of running, a fabulous Kip Moore/Justin Moore/Eric Church concert, and sadly ending the month with Hurricane Sandy - where I saw my state get destroyed.

momma & i at the Army football game

Love my NNJZTA sisters

kspice's bachelorette in baltimore

a wonderful day on Skyline Drive with MJ & Patricia

meeting Kip Moore! SO EXCITING!

lots of running in prep for my half - marathon! 

November: Helped kspice celebrate her wedding! election day, lots of fun with coworkers, more national park exploration! Going to Arlington Cemetery to honor our veterans, a great weekend in Philly for the Philly Half Marathon with Jeanne & Chelsea! Woooo 13.1 miles a year after tearing my ACL, enjoying a long weekend home for Thanksgiving, did my first Turkey Trot for Team Steve, stopping at Gettysburg on the drive back to Virginia and more fun with friends!

congrats kspice!

love this quote! at Arlington

13.1! Woooo! Philly half!

coworker fun

team steve!

December: A fun time at Walburn's annual holiday party with my college friends, continuing my historyness with the 150th of Fredricksburg, an amazing Redskins-Ravens game! catching up with college friends at the WAC holiday party, wreath laying at Arlington, Amy coming to visit in DC, a great Christmas at home with my family, the annual NYC trip with my parents, 3 more national parks that week and ending 2012 with Becca & Suz in a hilarious night- we all rang in 2003 together, so it was even more fun 10 years later! 

wreath laying at Arlington

WAC holiday party - love these ladies

Redskins- Ravens game with the NOVA Zetas

The Capital Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas!

parents at Rockefeller Center!

Happy New Year!

So a really great 2012! I was able to go to 18 states, 2 new states, 3 weddings, a lot of work conferences, waaaay to many days subbing, a lot of first dates (and a few got 2+ dates), lots of physical therapy, 42 flights, 5 drives between NJ & Charleston, 41 national park sites!, 132 nationa park passport stamps, 138 books read, 3 NFL football games, waaaay too much put on my credit card, so many visits to visit friends,  5 country concerts, 6 job interviews and 1 job!! 

Hope you had a wonderful 2012!