Adventures in DC

Georgetown in the distance

The whole island is very woodsy, then you get to the Memorial Plaza. Not pictured: the huge stones with engraved quotes of epic rhetoric.

Hey look! Through the trees - it's the Kennedy Center!

Little mushrooms.

He likes outside.

So sunny, so bright! The weather right now is very Nor-Cal fall. We're loving it!

What I said a few posts ago is true - I really enjoy not having to drive all that much! However, this week we became the proud owners of a 2002 Honda Accord. Yay! We've been planning to buy a car at this time all year, and are grateful to God that our plans worked out. Our basic motive was to have a means of transporting baby, but it is also helpful for errands, fun adventures, doctor's appointments, and so forth. It was so fun driving around yesterday and today and being able to enjoy the fact that we were in OUR car, not a borrowed car (though we are exceedingly glad for our generous friends who always let us use their cars!). Today we went out to breakfast, bought me some nice slip-on shoes - very important at this stage of pregnancy, went walking at Theodore Roosevelt Island on the Potomac (pictures above), and then to Trader Joe's. The rest of the day was spent either studying (Bobby) or napping and straightening up our Hobbit house (me). We've had an utterly delightful four-day weekend. Next week we will be enjoying a three-day weekend - Bobby has a lot of vacation days left, and he's taking them when I don't have work so we can have more time together before the little one gets here. Friday we're heading to Baltimore to go out to lunch at Cheesecake Factory and then go to the Baltimore Aquarium! Expect pictures...!

I Heart Not Having To Drive

Something I love love love about living in DC is that I do not have to drive all that often. We're very fortunate to have generous friends who let us borrow their car whenever we need it, but we mostly use it to get groceries and make it out to doctor's appointments (and, well lately...to get back and forth from church/work. I've been tired!).

Well, since Bobby's been gone I've been doing a lot of far-flung errands that I have been planning for awhile. On Friday morning I returned books to the Arlington library (fifteen minutes from my house) and then got lost for thirty-five minutes trying to find this shopping center with both a JoAnn's Fabrics and Michael's. I was so glad to finally get there! Then, a twenty minute drive home. Friday evening Ashley and I drove about a half and hour each way to get to these welll-recommended outlet stores. It was the first time I had driven on the freeway in the dark since I moved from LA! Bobby and I have together, but he always drives...that means over a year since I drove on the freeway in the dark. Whoa. I definitely noticed that I don't have my LA skillz, though I did okay.
(As an aside...awesome outlets. I was especially stoked by the Carter store - cutest baby clothes - and Gap, though at this point I just looked at stuff because I have my basketball belly to contend with : ).

Finally, today I drove to Ikea (about twenty minutes away) to get some storage stuff and new things for the bathroom. Whew. I feel like I've been living in the car! It's crazy how I've adjusted to my new surroundings - all of those trips would be nothing in LA. When Bobby and I were dating and engaged I'd drive a two hour round-trip sometimes twice a week. Now, we both can easily walk to church, work, the grocery store, our bank, some favorite restaurants, the metro, the dry cleaner, and the hair salon. Pretty sweet. I love my little Hill village!

(Also, it's going to save us money on car insurance. "Will you use the car to get to work?" "No." "Will you use the car to drive to school?" "No." We'll use the car to buy groceries, do errands, and take baby home from the hospital and to her appointments!)