Adopting in Ashburn

Let me tell you about the slam-bang week/weekend I had. It started, as weeks often do, on Sunday. Then, it progressed, day by day, to Thursday. (I'm skipping the slightly less interesting parts.) Thursday night I went out with a couple of friends and their friends to the Crystal City Sports Pub to watch the National Championship game. I loved hanging out with my fun crowd and meeting a bunch of new people as well. The highlight of Thursday night was the SEC dominance. Oh yeah, baby. Three SEC National Champions in a row. It makes me feel a little better about how poorly the Gamecocks seem to fare at least. The low point was definitely that the game never seemed to end. Ever. It was the longest game of all time. Travis got caught by a Sports Illustrated photographer as he was headed into the game with his girlfriend, which was pretty exciting. Friday, work went well and I got a bunch of posts finished for a blog I work on there. Mind you, we only post one a day over the...

I'm fairly certain we're all aware I'm a nerd. Well, this of course extends to young adult fiction. I have become immersed in the phenomena known as the Twilight series, and love it. I have not wanted to put any of the books down as I read them, flying through them and forcing myself to slow down and better enjoy the story. Admittedly, the writing is not technically brilliant. But there is something about the voice of the author, the personalities of the characters, and the goofy teen angst-yness that appeals to me. Finding out that the author is Mormon helped me decipher some of the details I thought were lacking, but strangely (because religious affiliation is not generally something I consider when choosing authors to read), I found that the plot made more sense and the romance was much more sincere knowing her faith. It really enhanced the third book (which is the one I read after I found out) - though arguably, there is more in the way of marriage and "bind...

Around the planet, people are making resolutions. Statistically, I'm fairly certain, many of them will not ever become realities. This does not dissuade me from making my own resolutions though. Although I'm not sure that I've ever kept a New Year's resolution, I often manage to keep resolutions for Lent or other shorter spans of time. So, I've planned my goals to minimize difficulty in missing days or losing resolve, and that will solve some of the biggest things that bugged me during 2008. Do something everyday that makes me happy. Travel to a new place (preferably outside the U.S.) and explore it. Spend at least an hour a week doing some sort of cleaning/picking-up in the house (preferably in my room). Here is my rationale. Number 1: I can rarely stop things from making me unhappy. I have little control over the things my mind chooses to hang on to or obsess over. However, if I can't stop the occasional misery, I can at least dull the sensation by count...