DC - the first weekend
By Rebekah | October 26, 2008
Hey Everyone! We sure do miss you all, but can’t deny that we’re having a great time here in DC. This past weekend was a whirlwind of activity, and I was really happy to be sitting down at my computer today.
Mark had Friday off from work, so we worked some while he went to pick up our weekend rental car. It was awesome - you never realize how amazing it is to have a car constantly at your disposal until you have to walk everywhere! We decided to rent the car this weekend so we could visit the places we can’t go on the metro or bus, mostly Mount Vernon which is about 20 miles outside of DC, but I’ll get to that a little later.
Once we had the car on Friday, we drove to the DC Armory to pick up Kenny’s race packet. The packet pickup tent and armory were awesome, and huge. It was combined with the Health & Fitness Expo. There were 200+ vendors, giving away free information and stuff. We scored everything from energy drink and health bar samples to beer, jerky and water bottle lanyards. Nice. We even got our blood pressure checked and I’m glad to report that my blood pressure is completely normal. After that we headed to Georgetown, where Kenny worked and I wandered around, visiting very nearly every amazing store you can imagine (well, maybe not every store, but you know). Georgetown pretty much has every great clothing and shoe store you could want.
Saturday started out cloudy, and just gradually got rainier, but we started the day off at Eastern Market. If you recall, we visited Eastern Market last time we were in DC, before it burned. The old building is still being renovated, but they’ve set up a temporary tent in the meantime, and it’s up and running nicely. From Eastern Market, we drove out to IKEA in Woodbridge, VA, which is about 45 minutes south west of DC. It was great fun, and lo-and-behold was right next to one of the largest outlet malls I’ve ever been in. It was sooo fun! I’m not sure Kenny agreed, but you know. He’s one of the best shoppers I know, and he was exhausted and not so happy by the time I left the last store, at the request of both boys. It was definitely a girl shopping trip mall. I had a blast. 
Sunday dawned bright, sunny and beautiful. We got up at 6 to head to the race (which you’ll hear all about in Kenny’s post), which started at the Pentagon. Mark, Kenny and I took the metro out there, then Mark headed off to meet his friends who were running the marathon (the starting lines were in two different places). I left Kenny in line to start, and waited for him to pass at the starting line - but completely missed him in the sea of 5,000 runners. I was so disappointed, but determined to catch him at the finish line, so I walked 3 miles to the finish line to wait there and also to meet up with my good friend, Karin Schultz Schiemenz. Karin’s husband, Alan, was running the marathon so she was hanging out for a while before she went to meet him elsewhere on the course. So that was awesome - I got to see Karin and meet baby Alan for the very first time! He’s precious! So we hung out there, and waited for Kenny to finish. And disappointment of all disappointments… I missed Kenny AGAIN! I was SO sad! The really funny part is in Kenny’s video near the finish line, you can see me in the background, looking for him. HA! Oh well, he said he’d run another race so I can see him finish. 
After we attended the race festivities, got more free stuff, and ate breakfast, we headed back to Mark’s pace so the guys could shower and we could get the car. Then we drove out to Mount Vernon, which was fantastic! I had been there about ten years ago, and only remember a very small part of the tour. George and Martha had a pretty nice casa, what can I say? In addition to the mansion, they had two large gardens, the wharf, the tomb (where they are buried to this day), orchards, farm animals, a laundry house, a house for the book keeper guy, the stables, etc. The changing trees made it exceptionally beautiful, with the reds, oranges and golds.
Topics: Travels, Random, Daily Adventures |
We made it.
By Kenny and Rebekah | October 25, 2008
Well, we got here on Wednesday and the trip was surprisingly pretty easy: Direct flight in to Baltimore, free shuttle to the train station and a 20 minute Amtrak ride into DC. Mark’s place is very centrally located with anything and everything close by. It’s quintessential fall weather here with the trees on the verge of exploding with color (perfect timing). So far this week has been crazy busy with work. Thankfully the wireless router we brought was agreeable and we didn’t skip a beat. I went to pickup my race packet yesterday which included a huge expo with over 200 vendors giving away tons of free stuff. We got a huge bag full of free crap! Woohoo! We rented a car for the weekend so we could get around easier. We’re actually planning on going to Eastern Market and Mt. Vernon today (and of course the race is pretty much I’ll be doing tomorrow). Talk to you soon.
Topics: Travels, Daily Adventures |
We’re moving to DC…
By Kenny | October 22, 2008
for three weeks
We intended to write this post much sooner but have been completely overwhelmed with work and life the past couple weeks and couldn’t fit it in. And we have to be at the airport in 6 hours so the overview will probably be brief (we need to get some sleep). But we’re going to keep the blog updated frequently during our adventure away so please check back often.
So why DC and why 3 weeks? Well, for starters, we went to visit Mark out there last year and have been wanting to get back since. We had a great time and really love the city. Plus you can’t beat a free place to stay. And three weeks, well, we simply just wanted to get away for a while and experience a new environment/ lifestyle. Three weeks seemed like a long enough time so it wouldn’t feel like a vacation and not too long to be, well, too long. And we’re certainly not seeing this as a “vacation.” We’re still holding our same hours of operation and have plenty to do while we’re gone.We’ll just be doing it at cafes and coffee shops. We kind of just wanted to get that experience for what it would be like to live in DC and not just visit. Not only that, but we really want the experience to allow for some creative reboot and fresh insights and ideas.
I read an article in Fast Company a couple weeks ago called “Rewiring the creative mind. What neuroscience reveals about how to come up with new ideas.” It basically talks about how new ideas are born out of new experiences. The more radical the change, the better the likelihood of fresh insights. You need to force your brain into thinking and solving differently. Give it a read. It’s reaaaallllyyy good. What’s interesting is that we’ve been craving a healthy change for a few weeks now which we’re now beginning to think was just our brains saying, “I’m hungry!” And so we’re really excited to see how this rewires creative thought and develops new insights. Not only for work, but for our lives as well.
To give you a heads-up, the main items on the list are:
- I’m going to fill my brother’s spot in the Marine Corps Marathon this Sunday. I’ll be running the 10K. I am totally out of shape and will certainly hurt very very badly during and after. But hey, free t-shirt right?!
- Mark is going to run the New York City Marathon on November 2nd. The three of us are planning on headin up there that Friday and coming back on Monday. Rebekah and I have never been to New York so we’re super excited about that.
- The election
Other than that, keep checking back as the adventures unfold!
Topics: Life, Travels, Daily Adventures |
Captain Awesome[r]
By Kenny | October 18, 2008
In case you though the Captain couldn’t get any awesomer…
So my brother Mark (AKA Captain Awesome) is running the New York Marathon on November 2nd. And apparently his time that he ran at a half marathon in Philly a few weeks ago made him eligible to apply for the Sub-elite runners in New York. Well, he received notice today that he was accepted. It’s a huge deal and he didn’t hesitate to mention that he thought it was blog worthy. These sub-elite guys get hooked-up (see below)! We weren’t able to see him run the Boston earlier this year so it’s awesome that we’re going to be there to see him run in New York (wink). Here’s a bit of the email he received:
Dear Mark:
Congratulations. You have been selected to participate in the sub-elite program at the ING New York City Marathon 2008. We celebrate and applaud competitive runners like you, and want to ensure your marathon experience as stress-free and rewarding as possible.
Established in 2004, the sub-elite program is designed to give special benefits to our most competitive athletes. This year, the group consists of 50 of the top men and women who are not a part of the professional athlete field. As one of those runners, we are pleased to invite you to participate in this year’s program, and will provide you with the following benefits:
- Special transportation to the start
- A separate staging and warm-up area at the start, away from most of the other 39,000 participants
- A completely clear starting position at the front of the Wave 1 (9:40 a.m.) Orange start
- Special baggage drop-off and transport to the finish
- A special sub-elite post-finish recovery area and expedited baggage pickup at the finish
Topics: Family |
Oh! Oh! Pick me!
By Kenny | October 15, 2008
(Saw this flyer in a window today. Thought it was pretty humorous)
Topics: Random |
Best .99 I ever spent
By Kenny | October 10, 2008
Sometimes you just need to record stuff.
Yesterday I bought this very useful application, simply called Recorder, for only 99 cents. It already came in handy for a meeting I had this morning. Über practical and very easy to use.
The end.
Topics: Random |
Aspen weekend ‘08
By Kenny and Rebekah | October 7, 2008
Every year since we’ve known each other, we’ve taken a walk at Aspen Vista near the Santa Fe ski area around this time of year and have taken a picture in the exact same spot. So this past weekend we made our annual trek to snap photo number 8. It’s always a great time and a beautiful sight to see; The mountain is bright with color (yellows, reds and oranges) signifying the change from summer to fall. With no other plans for the weekend we decided to just stay the night in Santa Fe, take it slow and relax (especially after a very very late Friday night with the amigos). We arrived in Santa Fe early afternoon. The weather was awesome: cloudy, rainy, and cold–gotta love sweater weather.
On Saturday afternoon, together with Kenny’s parents, we went to go take a look at Buffalo Thunder, the new hotel, spa and casino just north of Santa Fe. Neither of us are into that sort of thing, but after hearing how nice it was we wanted to give it a look see. We have to say, it really is quite impressive–the marketing doesn’t do it justice. After that we went to the theater to see Flash of Genius, starring Greg Kinnear. It’s pretty good. We’d recommend it.
We finally hit the mountain around noon on Sunday (after lounging all morning). The night before, the weather actually got cold enough for it to snow up there. So for the first time ever, we took our aspen photo standing in 3-5 inches of snow (and it was still lightly coming down). It was awesome. And yes, cold. We weren’t quite prepared for that kind of weather so we didn’t stay for very long. Again with Jack and Sylvia, we went to go check out the new REI that had just opened. We finally ended our mini vacation at Borders over cups of coffee and conversation. It was a great weekend.
Topics: Family, Daily Adventures |
My current desktop wallpaper
By Kenny | October 1, 2008
So this is random. Above is my current desktop wallpaper. I think I got it on Monday. I really like it; it’s not as distracting as I thought it would be. If you want to give it a try, you can download it here.
Please only use for personal use. Enjoy.
Topics: Random |
Good as new
By Kenny and Rebekah | September 26, 2008
Pretty sure we didn’t write about this when it happened, but our 4Runner was involved in a hit and run earlier this year. Turns out it was an 84 year old guy behind the wheel and when we first heard that from the eye-witnesses we felt kinda bad. Awww, he’s 84. Poor guy right? Well then the cops came they told us the whole story: he was driving drink and running from the cops because the liquor from which he was drunk he had robbed earlier and, to top it off, was driving with 3 tires! They literally followed the gouges in the asphalt to track the guy. After we heard that we didn’t feel so bad anymore. Thankfully nobody was hurt.
So anyway, we were finally able to claim our non-insured motorist coverage (yup. no insurance… actually wasn’t even the guys car) through Geico. We took the fruns in yesterday morning and picked it up this afternoon—good as new. I have to say, that’s the second time we’ve had a claim with Geico and every time it’s been a very VERY good experience. They’re consistantly awesome. I never thought I’d be one to praise an insurance company, but really, wow. So $1,300 in damages and we only had to drop $250 (which is $250 more than I would have had to pay if the guy never hit us but oh well), and our coverage even took care of our rental car.
Topics: Daily Adventures |
Fall Musings
By Rebekah | September 24, 2008
Being in the will of God doesn’t always mean doing things you’re passionate about and love. I feel like the season I’m in right now is the kind of season that will change me, expand me, and challenge me, but will be something I’m passionate about and love. I’m really super excited. I’ve felt God stirring something in me for something that’s to come; something He’s doing in me. I don’t know what it is yet, but I’m waiting.
I came across a quote today while I was cleaning out my email that really inspired me. Along with being ready for whatever it is that God has, I’ve been thinking a lot about accomplishing things, always being ready, never having regrets and enriching my life with as many good things as possible, so this quote was awesome:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain
I also came upon the conclusion that setting goals is a good way not to have regrets… and lo and behold, found this really cool site called 43things. So cool! I started adding a few of my goals in there, but I’m not really very familliar with it yet. I do know that when you type in a specific goal, it shows you other people who have the same goal - and how they’ve reached it, or how they’re trying… or just how they came up with good ideas. Neat!
Anyway, those are my Fall musings. I hope I didn’t bore you.
Topics: Life |
