Scary Movie!

For those of you who know me well you know I do not like scary movies! Well I was not thinking when I went and saw "The Dark Knight" this weekend with friends. It is the new Batman movie that is out. It was actually really scary! My friend Melinda said that she needed a full body massage after that because of how tense she was. I was with her! I was jumping and gasping during the movie. It was just scary! That joker guy (Heath Ledger) was amazing and truly took on the role of his character. He was really creepy. It was a really violent movie and I thought it should have been rated R. I went home and kept flashing back to the movie. I thought for sure I would have nightmares all night. I got home and read for awhile to dispel the evil feeling. I did dream about him, but no nightmares. (whew!) How come I can't dream about the cute guy?! :)

Little Addison

Addison asleep after her blessing.

From left to right: dad, mom, Rick (brother-in-law) holding little Addison, Mcayden (2.25 years), Janice, Debbie (me) and Cindy behind Janice.

Addison loves her blessing dress her grandma Bohn made.

Janice had called me the weekend of the 4th and asked if I could possibly fly to Utah for Addison's blessing. They were flying in from Seattle and would like to have me there. Well I thought it was pointless because I don't have many days of leave and I wouldn't get to hang out with her much. I left her a voicemail telling her as much. She called back and said she understood, but would love to have me there if I could possibly make it. I could tell she really wanted me there so I called Mike and got myself put on standby.

I was very blessed and was able to make all of my flights to Utah. I overheard that the plane was completely booked so I was VERY grateful that I made it on! My mom was SO excited for JL to see me because I had not told her I was coming. I wasn't sure if I would make it and if I could I wanted to surprise her. My mom and Cindy plotted to get Janice up to the house without her knowing I was there. Cindy and my mom made a divine brunch (yummmmyyyy) and when Janice and Rick arrived I opened the door to let them in. Janice was shocked! It was well worth getting to see her reaction!

So what did we do you might ask. We went shopping of course. :) Janice needed some good old fashioned shopping for therapy. Of course I think I bought the most. (I looked at my visa bill and almost screamed out loud.:)) It was just Janice, mom, and I. I was so glad to spend time with both of them.

On Sunday I got to hold Addison a lot which made me very happy! She would just go to sleep. I love little snuggly babies. I flew out Sunday night...well I was supposed to, but the plane didn't leave until about 2:00 am. I ended up missing the 7:00 am to DC and the 9:00 was full and I just made it on the 11:00. I was so grateful I was able to get on! I was just so exhausted after not sleeping for a day. I was a walking disaster all week at work because my body was very aware that I had missed a whole night of sleep. I just kind of took the weekend off from life and I'm doing much better now! It was still worth going!

Happy 4th of July 2008!

Orchids at the Botanical Gardens.

Library of Congress.

Akane and I at the Lincoln Memorial.

Akane came down for the 4th of July to visit me. We had amazing weather! It was overcast and threatened to rain so there were fewer crowds and it wasn't hot. (Yea!) We walked and walked and walked to all the monuments starting at the Arlington Cemetery. We went to the Botanical Gardens (the orchids were gorgeous!) and to the Library of Congress. I had never been there before and was stunned at its beauty. The picture above shows one of the stairways. I'm so glad we went and enjoyed it so much it almost makes me want to go there to study. (Almost :))

I had a great tip about where to view the fireworks. We were going to go with a group, but it was raining and neither of us wanted to sit on the mall and get wet. Instead we took the metro to the GW foggy bottom stop and walked up to the top of the hospital parking deck. We had a great view of the fireworks and were only a block from the metro so there were no crowds. It was heaven! I love fireworks!

There is a program at the capitol on the 4th of July with famous singers and music by the National Symphony Orchestra. I picked Akane up on the 3rd and we headed over to the rehearsal. It was so much fun! Jerry Lee Lewis who sings "Great Balls of Fire" was there and played a few numbers. He is old, but he sure can play!!! We got up and danced and just had a blast. There were a few broadway singers there too who sang a few beautiful numbers.

It was a great 4th! I'm so glad Akane came down and spent it with me. I finally went to the Postal Museum. Which, by the way, is really good. My friend Maggie Tapia was always telling me I should go see it, but I really didn't think it could be all that great. I was actually very impressed. Plus I got to flirt with a cute guy that worked there so all the better. (ha ha!)

NYC 2008

Akane and I across from Central Park. I love globes and maps so this was a great photo-op. :)

I always love going up to the Met's Roof Garden. They usually have very 'interesting' sculptures up there. This one is definitely my favorite. Behind us is a 'balloon' poodle and a big heart.
Akane and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (towards the city.) It is so beautiful at night with all the lights. The "New York Waterfall project" is going on and you can see one of the waterfalls from the pier. We had the YUMMY ice cream at a place just under the bridge at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Chocolate chocolate chip what could be better! :)

I flew up to NYC for the weekend to spend some time with Akane Kaiska from Japan. She is attending NYU. She was an exchange student who lived with my family when she was in high school. She has always been so kind and generous to our family. I wanted to visit her and see the Super Heros exhibit at the Met. We had so much fun together! We went to a ballet at the Lincoln Center, went to the Met, central park, took the Staten Island Ferry, visited the Frick Museum, and went to Le Pain Quoitidien several times for me to get a raspberry tart and belgium brownie (YUMMMMM!!!)

Akane is going to come to DC this week to take part in the 4th of July festivities. It should be a lot of fun.