Adopting in Ashburn

Yesterday we took a little road trip down to Denver. For those of you unaware, Denver is the capitol of Colorado. It is considered to be the gate to the west - which is interesting because St. Lois claims the same thing. Anyway, we drove down and went to the Art Fair and then walked 16th Street (also known as the mall). It was cool to walk up and down this pedestrian street and see all of the shops and restaurants. There were an incredible amount of outdoor cafes or restaurants that had outdoor dining areas. We ate lunch at the Paramount. All of us had pretty good meals and amused ourselves by reading the slogans and phrases on the t-shirts that were on display in the window of the adjoining building. After that, we looked at a few more art stands, stopped in the cigar shop for Dad and then headed home. We passed both Invesco Stadium, Coors Field, the Convention Center (which has a giant blue bear looking in the front windows), and a few interesting office buildings. Six Flags...

Subtitle: Horsetooth, Ft.Collins, & CSU We got up, we got ready, we jumped in the car. Off to see Horsetooth Mountain and Resevoir. It is a magnificent example of geological uplifting and oh yeah, its stuningly gorgeous! It was a great little car trip and then we headed down to downtown or old town Ft.Collins (no fort left now sadly). Downtown Ft. Collins is really cute, quaint, and evidently the result of a college town. Bars and restaurants litter the main street. However, the town is remarkable because it is clean, well landscaped with fountains and pedestrian streets and spotted with outdoor cafes. And of course it helps that you can look up from your French onion steak sandwich and see the Rocky Mountains. While we were speaking about food .... we ate at a Cooper Smith's Brewery. I had cider with the previously mentioned sandwich. Both were delicious. The au jus sauce and the horseradish-mayonaise on the side were perfect additions. {Alice, the sandwich only had ...

I made it out to Colorado safe and sound. We missed out on the trout dance because Bobby is on the east coast, but here is hoping we'll get to see it next time. Yesterday we did nothing overly productive except taking a walk around Lorien's neighborhood, went grocery shopping, and played spades (we lost by about 300 points - I think it was only about 1/3 my fault). This morning we were up and at 'em ready to head out. We took Lorien's Jeep (a fantastic shade of electric but not neon green) out through Estes Park and into Rocky Mountain National Park. It is surprising that we went today because today in 1805 Lewis and Clark saw the Rocky Mountains for the first time. We walked around Bear Lake and then we went up to Alberta Falls. Lorien and I did some very minimal rock type climbing and all of us did about 1.5 miles of easy hiking. We saw elk, deer, and prairie dogs on the journey, but the friendliest creature was definitely the chipmunk that ran up Mom's leg...

The French and English are mixed. Le francais et anglais sont melanger. There is a saying that, "When God closes a door he opens a window." Basically meaning even the most difficult and obstacle filled experiences have paths out. Or, say if you really had your eye on something and it didn't work out, that something else would come up to fill its place. I just wanted to say that today it did. Two nights ago I lost a friend (don't worry, they're still alive). I guess I didn't so much lose them as they had been drifting all along and then suddenly decided to jump out of the boat. Anyway, I was really bummed about it. Then today, a friend I thought I had scared into ignoring me (or jumping out of the boat if you want to stick with the last metaphor) popped back up. I was so enormously thrilled. Il y a un proverbe qui dit: "Quand Dieu ferme une porte il ouvre une fenetre." C'etait mon experience aujourd'hui. J'ai un ami, mon meilleur...

This is where I am going to tell you all about the HOBY seminar I was at last weekend. Check back. I will play catch up eventually.

I cannot even begin to tell you how tired I am, and yet again, I am not sleeping. I was driving home from near Norfolk today and stopped at a rest area near exit 98 on I-95 because I didn't think I could make it home. I live at exit 58. I couldn't go 40 miles without a five minute power nap and a walk (including a face washing in a surprisingly clean bathroom). That should give you some idea. I blame myself for this - staying up until 3:30 and then getting up at 7:30 after having only gotten 5 hours Friday and about 6 on Thursday night ... yes friends, as it turns out, driving for 7 hours, hanging out with family/friends/new acquaintances for 8 hours, working 41 hours and then sleeping for 15 ... it just isn't good for you (that 72 hour weekend ... I am somehow missing an hour - shower time maybe?). Anyway, I have pictures. I have stories. I have new and exciting cheers (some of which I may save as soundbites because they are too funny that way). I have grass stains ...

All of my packages finally arrived yesterday from France, my bank account should be closed and all remaining money transferred by tomorrow, I sent out a group email to the people from Taize, I have a pretty decent calendar of events for the summer, I have found at least one project to work on ... things are going well. I have been playing cards with my family and watching May sweeps - because who wouldn't really? It is pretty sad though considering I haven't seen these shows in 7 months and I still know what is going on. The end of West Wing didn't jerk a single tear, which was a major disappointment. My room went from clean to messy to tidy to really messy ... I don't think I'll ever get that right. I have been waiting around for my advisor to call for a few days now because I have some real questions to ask about things and he still hasn't called, which is passing from inconvenient to annoying fairly quickly. Life seems to be turning me in a whirlpool for ...

Don't miss the Finally Photos blog from today as well. The following is going to be stream of conciousness and scattered, please excuse me... I don't know what I am feeling right now. I am so happy to read news about everyone. I got to see pictures of Martin, read how Marco was doing, here from Melanie and Arthur - everything there is going well. The woman at the post office in France lied to me, because my package didn't get to NY until yesterday, so I probably won't get it until the end of next week. I can't imagine if I had asked for it to come economy class how long they would have taken to get the boxes on a plane. Well, I guess in that case it would have come on a boat, but you get it. I watched an entire disc of West Wing today, you know how much I love that show. And someone told me to stop being myself. They didn't mean to, and I am sure I am overreacting because I watch The Way We Were last night. Marco said the main character reminded him of...

In deference to all the promises it seemed I was going to break about adding photos and stories to the blog, I decided today was a better day than never to get started. I am going through the last few series of blogs and adding photos to them. Woohoo for you (and me)! Below is a list of the blogs that now have photos attached to them, browse at your leisure. Champadouze - My weekend with the Champanules April 30-May 1, 2006 Nancy - Two days in Nancy with Alice and Isabelle February Taize (the experience) and Taize (the basics) - My five days at the Taize community monastery with the Aumonerie April 18 - 23, 2006 Besides that I have spent the day doing a variety of tasks on the computer. In my search for photos I discovered the following two which I realized I never told you about. There was an Artist-in-Residence at Chanzy when I was there and she worked with a group that called themselves Flashmob. In a burst of artistic something or other (and a good way to get kids out of class)...

Bientot je besoin changer le titre de ce blog, parceque je ne suis pas toujours en France. Je pense de ca maintenant parceque je suis ici, dans le "frog" ou je cherche un herbergement (apartment, petit maison, condo, etc) pour l'annee prochaine. Quand j'ai demenagee, qu'est-ce que je vais appeller mon blog? Moi la-bas a DC? C'est pas hyper-practique, ca. (Aussi ce blog sans accents n'est pas super bien non plus.) J'ai jamais habiter dans un apartement - et je ne suis pas sur de tous les questions il faut que je demande avant, ni les choses je besoin apprendre ... c'est tout neuf. Sur un cote, c'est bizarre parce que avant mon demanagement a Charleville, je n'avais pas trop peur - et cette experience etait vachement plus dificile et neuf que ce situation. Dans mon propre pays je ne veux pas faire les fauts. C'est impossible de devenir parfait mais je ne suis pas contente de tous quand j'ai tort, je me trompe, ou quelquechose...

If you are what you eat, I'm sour (in a very sweet way). Because it is my birthday, my mother is making my favorite things for me to eat, and it just so happens they both happen to be lemony. I wouldn't usually talk about my birthday, because it truly is an awful lot like every other day of the year, except this year is a bit unusual. It is the first time in four years I'll be home on my birthday. This little detail might not seem important to most people - especially because I'm not having a party or any other type of big celebration - but I am a girl who adores tradition and tradition says you get your favorite foods on your birthday; I'm thrilled to be able to participate again after such a long time. In other annual like news, I feel no different. I have been looking forward to this age since the sixth grade - I think because of a strangeness I have yet to shake from my mentality. But anyway, I don't know if this year is going to be a big year or not, a...

_____________________________ (kudos to anyone who can fill in the blank there) I wanted to let everyong know that I am back home again, safe and sound, and in the presence of all my luggage! The trip went well, minus one little hitch with US Airways' baggage policy, and I am (knock on wood) so far free from symptoms of jetlag. Je suis arrivee - en tout securite et avec toutes mes valises. Plus, je ne suis pas fatiguee. Super! Sauf un petit amend (ils sont nuls, les gens a US Airways) tout va bien. I am looking forward to this summer of visits: Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Colorado, New Jersey, Virginia, and South Carolina. I might be working the HOBY conference in VA in a few weeks but besides that I am free and clear for the summer. Anyone feeling ready for a roadtrip should let me know and I am so in. I did not receive the internship at the OMB or the fellowship at the Smithsonian and am therefore definitively going to American University next year in pursuit of my mas...

On your mark, get set, .... It is almost time to leave France. I am in Paris for the last time (for awhile anyway). I have no idea what I am going to do with myself, but I have about 10 hours to kill. Not a bad city to have free time in, I know, but how to best experience my last day in France? Where will I go? What will I see and do? Because it is Tuesday, almost everything is closed - museums, monuments and the likes - so maybe I'll just go for a really long walk and see what there is to see. I left Charleville on Friday and came to Paris, left my bags and then headed over to Laval (see Champadouze blog - when it is actually finished). It was so sad to leave, and everyone was really helpful getting me out the door. You know how much I hate packing, and I had to repack all my boxes at the post office to save 100€, obviously worth it, but a big time killer. It was cool how it ended though, the same way it began - with me talking to the Dominguez family and with huge suitca...

Mon visite à Laval avec le groupe des Champanules. C'est nous a Laval (pas tout le monde, et moi, j'ai pris le photo). On a passe quelques heures en ville. Je vais monter les autres photos sur le site des Champanules bientot. Pendant le weekend j'etais Miss. Montre et responsable pour l'horaire. J'adore quand je peux rendre un service pour les autres, donc ce n'etait pas de tout un probleme. Valerie a rangee mon lit pour moi un apres-midi. Monsieur Bear etait content avec son mode nouveau. News from my trip to Laval, France with the Champanules group: It was a weekend of singing and frivolity in Laval with the other choristes . I had a fantastic time singing, eating, swinging through trees on a ropes course, touring the monastery and farm grounds, and of course visiting downtown Laval. I was assigned the post of Miss. Watch during the weekend, which basically means I was responsible to get everyone to the appropriate activity at the appropriate time - whe...