Happy Birthday George!

This President's Day marked the 279th birthday of our first President, George Washington. While we call the holiday, 'President's Day', the National Archives states that neither Congress or any President has changed the name of the holiday to 'President's Day' and on the books it is known as 'George Washington's Birthday'. Either way, I'm happy to celebrate.

After having visited Washington's home in Barbados (see earlier posts of my internship in the Caribbean), I was eager to visit Mt. Vernon, Washington's estate about 30 minutes from my house in Virginia. Mt. Vernon was hosting a surprise party to honor Pres. Washington, including cake, reading of his inauguration speeches, and visits from others. While my friends and I showed up fashionably late and missed the singing and cake, we still enjoyed a walk around Mt. Vernon.

 Mt. Vernon - The House

 What a view! Thanks Whit for driving down from Boston to join us.

 A fine history lesson on Washington's porch overlooking the Potomac River

Happy Birthday George!

2011: The Best is Yet to Come

Welcome 2011!!!

This year I decided to bring in the new year in the Big Apple! That's right--NYC. I think I did NYE in NYC just right...apartment in the city, friends, warmer than usual temperatures, 4 mile midnight run in Central Park. Yup, I rang in the new year with thousands of other crazy runners in Central Park. As the clock struck 12 and the ball dropped blocks away in Times Square, fireworks lit up the sky and I began running. Best New Year's ever!

With a group of 5 girls, we ran around the park sharing stories and highs and lows of 2010. 2010 was the year of goals for me. I didn't set out to make 2010 the year dreams come true, but as I reflected, I realized a lot of life long goals had been accomplished:

Graduate with my Masters in Public Health
Move to Washington D.C.
Returned to Ukraine for the Kyiv Ukraine Temple Dedication
Got my first "real" job
Ran a marathon

Wow, what a year.

As I look to 2011, I'm not quite sure what it holds; maybe some more races, maybe some traveling, hopefully new friends and potential relationships. I don't have any huge goals on my list this year, I'm kinda ready to let the year unfold and make goals along the way...I do know that even though 2010 was amazing, my motto for 2011 is  The Best is yet to Come

Catching up...

I'm trying to catch on this blog. I would just skip it and move on, but I seem unable to go from point A to point C without B in between. So bear with me as I finish up the events of 2010.

"I'll be home for Christmas...."

Getting home for Christmas this year was a bit trickier than in the past, but seeing as last year I didn't go home, I was bound and determined to make it back to Spokane and have Christmas in my own house with Mom and Dad. I alerted the family early on and encouraged all who were able to converge in Spokane. I did pretty well. For Christmas we had The Harris Family and a few days later, Jaime and Ava showed up. Kurt and Christina were unable to make it, but 3/5 kids isn't too bad.

Flying across the country is time consuming, costly, and stressful. After I booked my flight, I realized that I had 3 stops and two of them in the snowiest places in the USA: Chicago and Denver. I had everyone on prayer alert that snowstorms would be averted and I could make it home without delays or cancellations. With fingers crossed, prayers said, and a lot of movies to keep me busy, I arrived in Spokane at 9:30 PM and got to my house a little after 10 PM to be welcomed by Kyle, my 6 year old nephew trying so hard to stay awake for Christmas eve festivities. The other two little ones couldn't make the late night, but I was warmly greeted Christmas morning.

Christmas was absolutely wonderful. We ate lots of yummy food, watched movies, played with new toys, and even made some snowmen and had a snowball fight. The kids all got along and the sisters (minus Christina--sorry Tina!) were able to bond. Sadly, we couldn't extend our trips, but it was so perfect while we were there.

 Sarah and Ava--bonding in their matching outfits

SNOW TIME! Spokane never fails in providing a white Christmas

There is nothing like being home for Christmas.

New Job

I got a new job!!! Ok, I got the job 3 months ago, but it's still pretty new. Being a workin' woman is tough--tight schedules, 8 hour days, sitting at desk, paychecks coming in...it's rough.  Anyway, after months of sending in cover letters, online applications, informational interviews, and hundreds of emails, I finally got offered a job!

I am a Program Assistant at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the office of Health, Infectious Diseases, and Nutrition. The title is a little fuzzy, but it's actually pretty cool and exactly where I wanted to be. When I started the MPH program, I had the goal of working for USAID. It is one of the premier development agencies in the world. My role is to help manage grants for the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). I don't have any real decision making responsibilities, but I get to read all the proposals that come in for various activities (TB work, HIV/AIDS programs, water and sanitation, childhood vaccines, malaria programs, and other health activities). It's pretty interesting.

In addition to my main responsibility I'm also on the country team for Nicaragua and am on the gender team for the bureau. I don't really know exactly what my role on that team will be, but gender is a significant issue and I'll be meeting with representatives from the other offices and bureaus (education, health, democracy, humanitarian assistance, agriculture, etc).

The job is starting slow and I have plenty of time on gchat, but I'm thrilled to have a job and be starting my career as a public health professional.

26.2

The race of my life was actually 84 days ago. Since then I've received many complaints that my blog has become stagnant, so here's the update. And even though the race was months ago and I have limited pictures, I'm posting anyway...for friends and family...and because marathons are a  

BIG DEAL.

So without further ado...

On Saturday November 13, 2010 I completed the SunTrust Richmond Marathon. How was it you ask--AMAZING! I have never had a better time running; it was fun, hard, beautiful, perfect weather, long, totally insane, and incredible. Now maybe because it's 84 days later, I don't remember how hard it actually was, but I'm telling you it was awesome.

The race went much better than expected. All the hours and Saturday mornings spent running paid off and I had a great race. My time was not the fastest, but I finished in my goal range, I didn't walk, and only came out with mild soreness and one minor injury. The first 10 miles flew by and I felt really good. The weather was in the 40's to start and by the end it was in the 60's. So perfect. I ran next to rivers, across bridges, up some hills, through city, down in some valleys, and back on the streets of Richmond, VA. I ran the race with my running buddy, Traci and we kept each other going for all 26.2 miles. She had a pace keeping watch, so we knew how fast we were running the entire time. Miles 8-13 were probably the fastest pace and 24-26 weren't too shabby either. People warned me that as I got closer to finishing I might get emotional. Emotional?! From what I asked. Emotional from the training, hard work, realization of an accomplished goal, and the pure breaking down of the body. While some of those thoughts did cross as I passed the mile 25 marker and realized I was really going to finish this thing...no tears or uprising of emotions flowed. Instead, I just kicked it into gear and ran my fastest mile of the whole race. I guess it's still true that I'm just not an emotional girl. I don't think you have to cry to realize the enormity of finishing a marathon.

Saturday, November 13 was an awesome day.

Will I do it again???? I'm not saying yes, but I'm not saying no either.

Practicing crossing the finish line the night before the race. And if you're wondering what Traci and I are doing with our hands...we're just flashing our symbol. 2A

My cheering squad

I'll try to get more pictures. For now, you can check out a few pics online.
http://www.brightroom.com/view

Fall Happenings

October was a busy month with trips to start and end the month and a birthday celebration in between. My birthday was pretty low key this year with dinner with some friends and a small gathering afterward featuring my favorite dessert--ice cream.

I decided to skip town for Halloween and headed down to the Sunshine state instead. I went to visit a friend living in Orlando and we packed the weekend with fun Florida things. Clearwater Beach (Gulf Coast), Tampa, Disneyworld, and Daytona Beach. You all know how much I love the ocean, so this was a perfect weekend!

Here are some pictures to enjoy.

 Birthday Dinner

 Opening Gifts

 How does that yoga pose look like again? Obviously, I don't yoga.

 Yup, it's real!

 Daytona Beach...you can actually drive your car right onto the beach and park, which we did.

Thankful

A few things I'm thankful for...

A loving Heavenly Father
Family
Friends
Jesus Christ
Plan of Salvation
Freedom
Education
Fall colors
Health
Running
Sunshine
Beaches
Airplanes
Warms rolls w/butter
Laughing
Clean sheets
Nieces and Nephews
Hoodies
Prayer
Testimony
Indoor Plumbing
Not living in Pioneer times (idea stolen from my friend Stephanie, but I completely agree)
Cell phones
Ice cream
Conference Talks
Heating/AC
Beautiful planet we live on

Happy Thanksgiving!