finally went home!

last thursday i packed a bag, left work early, and made my way to the airport! i was finally going home to see my parents and new nephew.

after the fiasco of trying to get home during the holidays, i must say i wasn't very confident that i was going to get a on a flight. but as more and more people boarded, it looked like i was going to get on the plane! and then i did!

since i'm now not very fond of checking bags, and i was only going for a weekend, i didn't check a bag. i thought. they ran out of space on the plane, so they made me check my bag at the plane. that made me even more nervous! were they sure it was going to get on the plane with me? so i checked my bag and got back in line to get in my seat in the very back of the plane. we were all in line waiting to find our seats when this lady in the back who had TWO suitcases, decides she needs to check her bags. so a line the entire length of the plane had to back out because she couldn't get by. oh how i love people...

the flight was ok, but when i did get to my seat, there were two guys in my row who decided that they didn't want to sit next to each other, even though my seat assignment was for the aisle seat. when i got back there, one of them said "oh good, you're in the middle, we've been waiting for you!" so i just pretended i didn't realize that i was supposed to sit on the aisle. again, i love people...

instead of waiting for me outside, my parents actually parked and came in. so while i was walking around the baggage claim looking for the right carousel, my mom snuck up behind me and scared me! i was so happy to see my parents! it's so weird not seeing people for along time. we talked about random things the whole way home.

overall, the trip was great. i met my nephew caleb, who is so cute! i got to hold him and feed him and i'm sad that i won't be there all the time now. nick flew in on friday night and he came over to my parents' on saturday morning. and he actually held caleb! it was amazing! we got to eat sweet tomatoes, with nick's parent's, his papa, and dave and heather. it was more crowded than i would have liked. and the time with them was very short. we met up with some friends afterward and saw a bluegrass band. really fun!

that night we found out that they were calling for snow the next day. weird. ok, so we got up on sunday planning on flying out earlier so we would be sure to get on a plane. wrong. all flights cancelled! what?! needless to say, we just about cried. i had an interview scheduled for monday, and even though i didn't have to work, nick did. and i was worried that the cats were going to drink all of their water and start destroying the apartment.

so after realizing that all of the carry-over from sundays cancellations were going to make it very hard to fly out on monday as well, we did the unthinkable. we booked tickets on amtrak. i was scared.

my parents took us to the train station in buckhead on monday night. our tickets were for the 8:20 train. it was probably the weirdest thing ever. we heard others discussing that their flights had been cancelled, and some said that they weren't able to make it to the train station the day before. so it was a little busier than normal. when they called us to board, we walked down the platform beside the train. it was totally surreal! i never expected i would board a train for a 14 hr trip. ever. we got our seats in the last car and were pleasantly surprised by the fact that holy cow train seats are big and have tons of leg room! also, they recline a little and then they have a footrest that comes out at the bottom. we were worried about sitting next to annoying people or crying babies, but neither happened really. we hadn't had dinner, so we went to the cafe car and i got a hotdog (pretty good!) and nick had a small pizza. before we went to get food, we had been working on a crossword puzzle that was in a train magazine. we both started feeling a little sick. i've never really gotten motion sickness and neither has nick, but the ride was pretty bumpy and we were concentrating pretty hard. so after we ate, we just kind of dozed off.

we woke up about midnight and started playing a card game we had bought. we couldn't go to sleep because some people who got on in south carolina were talking a LOT. so we played for a while then decided to sleep. it was tough. it seemed like everyone around us was sleeping really well and not having to move around a lot. we turned over a lot then took turns sleeping on each other and leaning up against each other. it was a pretty long night. we woke up for the morning at about 7, but i kept going back to sleep. it was pretty cool to see all the snow though as we went up the east coast. i was sooooo happy when i woke up and we were in manassas. cause i knew there was only alexandria left before the dc stop. when we got to union station, we got off and everything was all snowy and icy. it didn't feel like that's were we lived. then we went downstairs and got on the subway. yay!

well, the cats didn't tear up the apartment. they were out of water, but not food. that was surprising. they were so happy to see us! i missed them so much!

apparently we can never take a trip and have it go as planned, but we had a great time. can't wait til next time! i also can't wait til someone comes to see US instead.

i'm back!

ok, so it's actually pretty embarrassing how long it's been since i've updated this. it was before we moved! but i've decided to come back to the blogging world! i'm hoping that it will help me to try and focus on some positive things in the world of casi and nick rather than some of the less-than-desirable things that are going on.

just to get them out of the way though...

the hardships:
-moving is tough! i miss my family and friends every single day.

-moving in winter is tougher! i feel like i've lived here for six months, and it's been rainy, snowy, and cold the entire time. it's really hard to develop an opinion on this place when it seems that it's always winter here. i'm sure once the summer heat gets here i'll want the cooler weather back, but right now i want the sun! i hope it puts me in a better mood when spring arrives.

-friends are hard to find. dc is different. really different. you don't just meet people here. everyone has an agenda. people really aren't as friendly as in other parts of the country. when you meet someone new, they automatically have to "rank" you. they ask you what you do immediately. i realize it's a standard question to ask. but up here it seems like it's a requirement for even talking to someone. i need to know what you do so i know how important you are so i know if i'm more important than you are. they also like to slyly try and figure out where you stand politically. totally weird.

-virginia doesn't want you to own a car. in the "commonwealth" where i now live, owning a car is like trying to get citizenship or something. not only do we have emissions testing, but also safety inspections. this would be fine, but the system is flawed. the people that inspect your car to make sure it's safe are also the people that fix your car if you don't pass the test. see where i'm going? they don't want you to pass, because then they can charge you a bunch of money for the things you need fixed! my 2007 dodge caliber needed about $800 worth of repairs before it would pass inspection. i was worried about the crack in my windshield, which apparently passed anyway. i ended up replacing all four tires and some bolt or joint or something that had cracked.

you also have to re-title your car in the state. dumb! we haven't even registered nick's car yet because he needs so many repairs to pass the safety testing. ugh!

ok, enough whining. now the reasons why living here is actually pretty cool:

-i don't have to drive all the time! i absolutely love the washington metro system. it goes pretty much everywhere, unlike MARTA. i don't drive to work, ever. yes, my commute takes about an hour, but in that hour, i'm just chillin out reading the newspaper or listening to music. nick and i drive maybe 20 miles a week, combined.

-museums are awesome and free! i still haven't been to all the ones i want to go to, but the ones i have were super cool. last week when they sent me home from work because there wasn't enough work (another whine that i won't go into right now), i went into the city and went to two art museums and the archives. i mean, how cool is it that i can just go see the declaration of independence and the constitution anytime i want! next i want to go to the holocaust museum, but i want to wait til nick comes with me to do that.

-i witnessed history! ok, so i don't care who you voted for, or how mad you are about obama being elected, the inauguration was amazing. i've never experienced the feeling i felt on inauguration day. the metro station i usually use to get to work was closed, so i had to use a different one and walk to work. i was walking through chinatown at 630 in the morning and there were people everywhere. these people were so happy! everyone was singing, dancing, chanting, and just being so completely awesome. i mean, people were walking to get in line to go through security for the parade. they KNEW that they were going to have to wait to go through security, then stand on the parade route until 2 in the afternoon, but they didn't care! during the actual swearing in, i could here the president reciting the oath from my work. i stepped outside onto the street full of people and listened to it as it happened. it still gives me chills. when the parade came by, i ran outside to the end of the block, and i actually caught a glimpse of the president's limo. so cool.

ok so this post is so long i'm going to end it now, even though i could probably do a couple more "pros" about living here.

until next time...