DC Girl

Disturbing

Generally, I like to steer clear of heavy topics on my blog, but I'm particularly disturbed by the recent news story involving NFL player Michael Vick.  To breed dogs for killing, travel them around the country to fight and kill, and then electrocute or hang them if they under perform is simply barbaric.  His behavior, presuming it occurred, makes me think that Vick is the most disgusting, despicable waste of human life.  I know these are harsh words, but they are the most accurate description of how I feel.  I wonder if Vick would appreciate similar treatment from Arthur Blank if Vick threw an interception or blew a fourth down conversion.  If you are as disturbed by this as I am, then please click the link below and sign the petition against Vick.

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/US_2007_dogfighting_nfl2?qp_source=gaba6w

Help the Peace Corps

A friend of mine, Dave, is in the Phillipines serving in the Peace Corps (don't even get me started on how admirable that is).  He has been working with the local chamber of commerce to create a processing center where local farmers can come together and learn to process, package, and sell their harvests under one brand name.  The center will certainly be beneficial to the local economy and provide these folks with skills for life.  Below is a link to the project, which was just green-lighted.  Please look at what Dave is doing and consider a donation to his worthy cause. 

https://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/donors/contribute/projdetail.cfm?projdesc=492-224

Marathon training, uggh!

I've done it again.  I've gotten myself roped into running another half-marathon over Labor Day weekend.  The race is the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach.  The race weekend is always fun as it is filled with concerts, sun, and friends, but training for the race is always a I drag.  I love to run, but training in the DC summer heat is a beast.  I ran 5-6 miles this morning.  It was about 80-85 degrees during my run, but the humidty was low.  I ran an out and back down L street to Pennsylvania, up Rock Creek Parkway trail, turned around before the big hill going to Woodley Park, ran into some old friends at the calistenics equipment, ran up the hill to P street, down 22nd to L street, and then home.  Only 7 more miles to go! 

AT&T National Golf Tourney

Josh and I attended the AT&T National Golf Tournament yesterday at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.  I don't play golf (Josh provides enough frustration in my life j/k), but, for some reason, I love to watch it.  The tournament is hosted by Tiger Woods and benefits his children's foundation.  Tiger played in the tourney and, of course, brought out a lot spectators.  Taking advice from a co-worker of mine who is a golf enthusiast, we decided to avoid the masses that would be following Tiger from hole to hole and camped out at one hole.  For no particular reason, except that there was no one at the hole at the time, we got front row on the par 4, hole 8 green.  We had a great view of all the big names as they came through -- we saw Jim Furyk, Jesper Parnevik, Vijay Singh, and, of course, Tiger Woods.  We were front and center to see Tiger save par on the hole.  Too bad no one will remember that his pairing partner, Kevin Stadler, birdied the hole.  After hole 8, we walked to the green of hole 17 and watched a bit of play there.  We then made our way over to the tee at 18, where we watched Tiger tee off.  We really had a great time watching the big name stars, as well as getting familiar with some of the younger talent, like Anthony Kim.  I really enjoyed watching golf live because it is rare to go to a professional sporting event and be that close to the athletes.  I was also impressed with how organized the tourney was, expecially the parking and shuttling situation.  Overall, the event was great and we will go back again next year.   

AUsome thing

I have the honor of serving as the president of the DC area Auburn club for 2007.  Every year, the club hosts a banquet to raise money for scholarships to be given to DC area students who will attend Auburn.  This year's special guest was Coach Tommy Tuberville.  Because of Coach, we had a great turnout and raised over $6000.  The perk of the night for me was having dinner with Coach, his wife, his mother, and two sons.  This could be one of my favorite pictures ever!

Wedding

For those that don't know, Josh and I finally got married on November 10, 2006.  The ceremony and reception were held at the Monte Sano State Park Lodge in Huntsville, Alabama.  The ceremony went great and the reception was incredibly fun.  We were surrounded by lots of friends and family, and it really was one of the best times of my life.  I've posted some pictures in the album section for all to see. 

Back on line after an all too long absence

Ok folks.  I'm back online after several months of absence.  Since my last post, Josh and I got married, closed on our new condo, spent many months nesting, traveled to Brazil, adopted a new cat, traveled to Seattle, and met Coach Tuberville.  Whew!  It's been a crazy few months.  I'll post pictures in subsequent posts.

Fall Kickball Begins

On Wednesday, August 9, my team's fall kickball season began.  This is my 3rd fall kickball season (I also play in a spring league).  My team plays at the Marie Reed Community Center in Adams Morgan.  After several seasons of making it to the semi-finals or the finals (but not winning the cup), Mike, our fearless (and some might say rentless) leader, has assembled some of the greatest kickball talent on the East Coast.  We have many all-stars and a lot of great athletes.  Our goal is to (finally) win our division.  Josh, who as a result of a death in our pitcher's family, started playing pitcher in the spring season playoffs and pitched the first fall game.  He led the team to our first victory.  We had an easy win over a rookie team with a score of 11 to 3.  We hope to keep the winning streak going into the playoffs.  Mabye by the middle of October I'll be posting a picture of the team with our trophy! 

New Condo

In addition to getting married on November 10, 2006 (see wedding blog), Josh and I also recently purchased a new condo in the historic Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C.  Although our building is new construction, the building was designed to reflect and blend with the architecture of the surrounding neighborhood.  The result is a warm, yet contemporary building called "The Whitman."  The building is named for the author Walt Whitman who called DC home in the 19th century.  Whitman, arguably the most influential contemporary American poet, is most famous for his work "Leaves of Grass," which I'm sure most everyone read in high school or college English class.   

Our condo is a one bedroom, one bath unit.  Our kitchen is beautiful with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.  The cabinets and the hardwood floors are a cherryish color.  And the best part, after almost three years with common laundry, we finally have our very own washer and dryer!  I'm posting a picture of the exterior of the building.  I'll post more as we see progress. 

First Entry

After wanting to start my own blog for quite a while and being inspired by my friends Mark and Joanna, I have finally taken a leap into the blogging world.  Please bear with me as I am sure this will be very primitive until I learn how to use this program.