The Countdown(s) Begin

Brody takes his last final in a few hours.

By this time next week, we will be here. Literally, this is the Bodie Island lighthouse in the Outerbanks, NC.

We're a little excited.

In a year from now, Brody will be finishing law school!!!

Let the countdowns begin!

Things to make you smile

Between Boston and Texas, last week was pretty rough, so I've compiled a few things that should make you smile:

• That kid loving life at the beach.
• Puppies. I just want to be this guy, and/or start a business that just lets you play with a bunch of puppies for a nominal fee.
• My sweet mom's attempt at a hashtag on instagram. She's the cutest.
• Cherry blossoms, Magnolias and Dogwoods galore!
• Having a vacation to look forward to
• Tax refunds
• Administrative Professionals Day gifts and festivities at work
• And this guy.

Cherry Blossoms

On Saturday evening, Brody and I grabbed a little dinner and made our way down to the Tidal Basin to see the last of the cherry blossoms. They are so fickle, and the window of opportunity for seeing them at their peak is only about a week long. It was a warm, spring night and the tourists were out in force, but it was still a beautiful walk in the rosey light of dusk with my sweetheart.

By Any Other Name

Even though my heart will always belong to the Baz Luhrmann adaptation, I'm actually excited to see another Romeo and Juliet coming out later this year.  What can I say? I'm a sucker for this play. I love getting lost in the language and imagery.  The sonnets and soliloquies.   And what wouldn't I give to be able to ask Mr. Shakespeare himself whether he meant it as a true romance or more of a commentary on the lust and impulsiveness of youth??  They are teenagers who've only know each other for a few days after all... probably a little of both. Either way I'm excited to see it, and apparently they filmed on location in Verona Italy, In fair Verona where we lay our scene. It looks to be a fairly strict adaptation of the play, which will obviously be in sharp contrast to the 1996 version--how has it been 17 years since that came out?!  Ughhhh that makes me feel old.

*the song in the trailer is "Skin" by Zola Jesus if you were wondering :)

And while we are on the subject of Shakespeare, I'm very intrigued by this documentary. I had never heard that there was any controversy surrounding his identity or actual existence (a pen-name perhaps?) before.  It's all so fascinating and really, kind of tragic to think that some other anonymous person might actually be one of--if not the--greatest writers ever and we have no idea who they are.  Personally, I'm very skeptical and I hope that's not the case... had you even heard about this?

Adult Recess

It was a Food Truck lunch kind of day. Courtney and I ventured over to Farragut for lunch today. And after a few minutes of  deciding between the hoards of food trucks we found a shady spot under a tree and laid out on the grass to eat our little picnic and do some people watching.  It is beautiful today. 81 degrees, sunny, and a soft breeze. And no humidity to speak of.

There is always a large crowd of business men and woman around the food trucks and we couldn't help noticing that we were basically all just out at recess, our own adult, full-time working version of recess. And yep---it's still the best part of the day.

Conference

Sigh. I always feel like there is such a post-conference letdown. Back to the real world.  It was a glorious weekend though, full of inspiring talks and messages and some wonderfully quotable quotes.

Not to mention spring finally decided to show up in all it's 72-degree glory! And apparently the cherry blossoms decided it was warm enough to start blooming.  I snapped this little pic during a quick jaunt down to the Tidal Basin on Sunday evening around 6:30 (when it was still warm enough outside not to even need a jacket, eek! warm weather makes me giddy).


And I know we aren't supposed to have favorites, but....this is kind of how it goes in our household

Get The Cornballer Ready

Fools

April Fools Day. I mean..... I guess I get it. It's carte blanche for basically being a bully? An excuse to literally make fools out of your family and friends?  I enjoy a prank as much as the next person but I guess I'm just a tenderheart when it comes to playing them on a single individual.  I prefer the mass-pranks like Google or The Onion are known for.  I'm awful at playing pranks on people. I'm that person who either laughs and can't keep a straight face, or just gives in and tells the person after 5 seconds.  I just don't particularly enjoy watching people suffer. I guess that's why I can't stand watching boxing or being in hospitals and rest homes--too much suffering. Case and point; my dad, Lani, Lacey and I were staying at our cabin one weekend, I think I was in high school at the time, and Lacey was working the closing shift at my dad's store in Kamas. So, my dad had the brilliant idea of giving her a little scare when she came home to the cabin.  He, Lani and I got in dark sweatshirts and drove one of the 4-wheelers out to the gate and hid ourselves and the 4-wheeler in a ditch.  I think my dad and Lani may have even been wearing ski masks.

I was already feeling guilty. 

When Lacey pulled up a little while later, she climbed out of the car to unlock the gate, the only light coming from her headlights.  And then we all ran out of the ditch at her screaming; a young girl, late at night, alone in the wilderness with three menacing shadows appearing out of nowhere.  And her face... I'll never forget the look on her face.  It was the only time I've ever seen sheer and utter terror as she screamed, scrambling to open her car door.  The whole time I was yelling "It's just us Lace! It's just us!" but she probably couldn't hear me over my dad's roar. And she finally realized who we were after a few heart-stopping moments. I felt so bad. Immediate regret. She, however, took in stride and wasn't even really that mad (I don't know if I would have been able to forgive us).  But I didn't find it particularly amusing or fun, I just felt bad. Even now, years later, I still feel bad about it.  I'm just no good at the pranks and am probably even worse at the receiving end.

Easter Weekend

It's finally happened. Spring is here to stay! It was beautiful and sunny over Easter weekend and I couldn't help but snap a few more pictures during my Saturday run around the mall. The cherry blossom festival has started (even though the blossoms have yet to bloom) and it was really crowded so I took a route to the Jefferson, passing the Lincol, MLK and FDR memorials on my way. It's always a little less crowded over there because it's such a long walk. The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing with Brody before I lose him to finals.