We did some adventuring in January and one place that I fell in love with was Union Market. The Korean Taco stand is my favorite, and I crave it constantly. Seeing this picture again is making me salivate. We met my brother and his girlfriend at Old Ebbitt Grill while they were doing Inauguration practice. It was so weird to be on Pennsylvania without cars and traffic. The flags in all of the windows made me teary. It also happened to be No Pants Day on the Metro. Clay was so confused as to why people were not wearing pants. I too was confused. I don’t like the idea of my bare bottom on the Metro seat, but maybe that is just me.

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Post tags: old ebbitt grill, state if the union january, washington dc on a rainy day, washington dc with kids

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I think one of the biggest things for me was moving to DC. I liked Kansas, I made some lasting friendships, but I never felt like it was my home. A one year move is hard, and my attitude did not make my situation any easier. Leaving at the end of the year really was good for me. The kids and I spent the summer at the beach and as much as we missed Wes during the week, it was what I needed. I felt more connected to my babies, and in a lot of ways to myself. I worked really hard all year and was able to enjoy the benefits of my hard work with some down time. I read books for the first time in years, I spent long days on the beach, I spent time with my mom and got to know her again. I felt recharged when fall rolled around.

A little over a week before school started, we moved to DC. Immediately, I felt like we belonged there. I love where we live, the neighborhood is quiet, and the house we live in is small, but for right now, it is just what we need. There is an energy in DC that I really seem to respond to. The kids are happy there, I am happy there, Wes is happy there. We have friends from different eras in our lives, family, and for once we had community before we even moved in. We did not have the struggle of begging a stranger to be our emergency contact. And for nomads like us, that it is a really big deal.

I never dreamed that when I decided on a whim to start a food blog that so many amazing people and opportunities would come to me because of it. Don’t get me wrong, it is a lot of work. But work that I enjoy and that I get a great sense of accomplishment from. I have watched my photography grow and my writing as well. I have turned my blog into a business. I have traveled for my blog, made connections, and been able to cross things off of my bucket list because of it.

My marriage has always been good. Of course there have been ups and downs, no marriage is perfect. But it feels like it is stronger and happier than before. I know that Wes loves me, and that I love him, but this year he has really stepped up to let me live some of my dreams. He has taken on a lot of the responsibility of running our home so that I could do things for my career and for myself. He truly is my biggest cheerleader and I am grateful to have him by my side. We have a beautiful family together and I love the home that we have created for ourselves and our children.

My life is good. I am in a good place right now. 2013 is looking promising. This year, instead of the same resolution (I don’t think that I will ever lose that 20 pounds), I am going to set some goals instead. Some lofty, and some not. But things to work towards to make myself a better person.

1. I am going to say no to more things than I say yes to. This is hard for me to do. When I first started blogging, I was so flattered by the offers and opportunities that came my way. I really felt that if I said no to anything that no one would ask me again. I have since learned that this is not the case. I feel like I stretched myself too thin and began to lose some of myself. This year, I am cutting way back. If it is not something that I truly want to do, or something that will benefit me in the long run, I am going to say no. This is not just in my blog life, but also in my personal life.

2. Read more books. There was a time when I would read 3 books a week. Now I am happy if I read 3 books a year. I miss reading, and the connection that I feel towards books. I love getting lost in a book and being sad when it is over.

3. Run a half marathon. If you know me, then you know that I really hate working out. I signed up for the Nike Womens Half Marathon and am promising myself that I will finish it. This is a goal that I have always had (I have no idea why, I really do not love running) and need to cross of my list of things-that-I-have-done-in-this-life. I know that it will be good for my body and my mind and having a goal will help me stay motivated and on task. I will be happy if I do not come in last.

4. Eat out twice a month. As a family, we made this goal. Ironically, as much I cook, we do eat out quite a bit. It is not good for our bodies or our wallet. Instead of running out for dinner on a busy night, we will make something easy at home. A sandwich or a bowl of cereal will be fine, but we will eat our meals in our home. This I think will be hard to do, as we love eating out and restaurants, but that should make going to one even more of a treat.

5. Take more pictures of my kids. Every year I make my grandmother a calendar for Christmas. She looks forward to it every year, and I end up giving a few other family members one as well. Usually I have a hard time narrowing down which pictures to use I have so many. This year, I barely had enough to make one. Yes, I take a lot of iPhone pictures, but I really need to take my big camera out with me wherever we go. It is worth it, and something that I really miss. Photography does feel like work sometimes, and taking pictures of my family was the whole reason why I got into it in the first place. I need to take more pictures of our every day life again. At the end of this year, I want to struggle to have narrow down my options for the calendar.

Here is to a happy and productive new year. Have a Happy New Year.

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Post tags: family resolutions, holidays, new year goals, new year resolutions

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This months touristy visit was to the National Christmas Tree. We celebrated the beginning of the kid’s Christmas break by taking a very cold walk around the tree and all of the state trees that surround it. The trains that run around the tree are amazing, and made me think of my grandmother that adores toy trains. She needs to come with us next year. It was freezing, but worth going to see.

Afterwards, we headed to Shake Shack, which is quickly becoming one of our favorite places.

The Daughters of the American Revolution really know how to do Christmas lights. I have never seen trees so wrapped in lights. Gorgeous.

Christmas Eve involved a trip to Krispy Kreme, making cookies, and a walk in Old Town.

This year was his “Santa” year. There always seems to be a year in their lives when they truly believe in the magic of Santa and everything that goes with it. He fell asleep in the car on the way home from my brother’s on Christmas Eve and woke up long enough to ask me to put out cookies for Santa. He wanted to do it, and carefully picked out cookies and poured the milk himself. My heart melted, he was so sweet about it.

I always love to send everyone to bed and sit on the couch and take in how peaceful it is in front of the tree. Presents ready to be opened, cinnamon rolls ready for breakfast, and the house is quiet. I love it every year.

This is what much of Christmas Day looked like. Santa brought Nooks and Clay got a new chair that he loves and they spent the day building Lego buildings and playing new apps and reading. It was exactly how I wanted to spend Christmas. I took a nap and we stayed in pjs all day. I made a very untraditional dinner of chicken and waffles and it turned out even better than I imagined.

We saw snow for the first time in quite a few years. It did not last very long, only a few hours, but it was peaceful to watch it fall. I hope that we will have some snow that lasts soon.

New Year’s Eve was a very early dinner at Founding Farmers and everyone (except me) going to bed early. I wanted to start 2013 with a relatively clean slate, so I finished all of the little assignments and things left on my to-do list. I cleaned up all of my files and pictures on my computer. Not the sexiest way to ring in a new year, but I woke up in 2013 feeling organized and ready for what was to come.

And these pajamas had to come home with me from Target. It is the truth, but also the reality that soon I will not be able to buy Carters pajamas anymore. He is almost out of the largest size they carry. That is the end of an era and in some ways I look forward to them all getting bigger, but I will miss having babies in my house.  Today, everyone went back to school and vacation is over. I look forward to the structure, but loved having everyone home for awhile.

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We love living here. Like really, really, love it. There is so much to do and see. Honestly, if you are bored here, it’s your own fault. Museums, parks, monuments, shows, walks on the river, you name it, there is something to do every single day. And most of it is free. It is so family friendly. This year was the first time in quite a few years that we had a real fall. Golden red leaves on trees and crisp weather. I had no idea how much I would love to have all of the seasons again. The kid’s schools are great and they have settled in better than I could have asked them to. They all played soccer and have made lots of friends.

I know some people don’t like living here. Traffic can be a pain and it is not cheap to live here. But we are lucky to live in a place with that is so rich in history and culture. My kids drive by national monuments on the way to the grocery store and most kids will never see them in person a day in their lives. This life is crazy for sure. We have moved a ton and yeah, it is not always easy, but we have done more and seen so much and our lives are only richer for it. So I say, embrace it.

Last weekend, Wes and I went out in a new part of the city that we have never been to before. Adams Morgan? Anyway, it was so much fun, but we were probably the oldest people there by 10 years. The next day, we were not feeling so fabulous so we had a quiet day at home. By 4, we started to get antsy. When we were driving home the night before we took the long way to drive by monuments. They are so beautiful at night, so we decided to go back with the kids and I brought my camera. We walked around and looked at the sites. We had such a nice night that was when we decided to do something quintessentially DC at least once a month.

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I really love taking first day of school pictures every year. Even more, I love digging through my files and comparing this year to last. I swear that even though a year has passed, it feels like they grow up far more than a year’s worth.

This year Clay has started pre-k, getting him ready to go to the big kid school with his brother and sister. It is beyond me how he is at this point. I feel like he should still be swaddled before bed.

Ava is in 1st grade and loves her new school and teacher. She loves reading and her favorite job is calendar. She loves it because she gets to call on people to answer her questions. She really enjoys bossing people around.

William is in 3rd this year, and already, just a few weeks into school, I can tell that we have reached a new phase. More challenging, more work, and we have to be really on the ball as parents to not miss anything.

So far, we have been so blessed and lucky to find great schools for our children. It seems like we have been able to get the right teacher for our children each year, by sheer luck. The new schools are welcoming and warm, and we love how they have included us already.

Here is to another great school year.

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Post tags: bush hills day school, first day of school pictures, hayfield elementary school, new school

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We have entered a new parenting phase. It is called the lacrosse parent phase. Our boy went to a camp last week and fell in love. We are now the owners of lots of lacrosse gear and one sweaty 8 year old.

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Post tags: lacorsse, lacrosse parents, lax evo camp, margate lacrosse camp

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We made an impromptu trip to Connecticut because we lost power for a few days. Not to re-hash, but it was no fun, and I love the men and women at AC Electric. Enough said. I had been in Chicago for work, picked up the kids, and went to see my best-est friend in the whole world. You have got to love someone that opens their home to you with 5 hours notice, especially when she has lived in said home for less than one week.  She has 3 girls, and it was great to have our kids together again. I brought along some craft kits (have you seen the new Todd Oldham craft kits at Target? Love.) and thought that the girls would love to make jewelry. I was mistaken, the boys loved it too. They sat on the porch and beaded for over an hour. The best $12 I have spent in a long, long time.

One afternoon, my friend had guests, and the kids and I decided to visit Mystic since it is only a few minutes away. Such a cute little town. You have seen Mystic Pizza haven’t you? We ate there for lunch. The pizza is surprisingly good. The boys loved watching the bridge go up and down.

We spent 4th of July at quite possibly the most gorgeous home I have ever been in. The kids made some new friends, and splashed around all evening.

As we were driving home, the light was perfect and golden, so I made Wes pull over so I could take some pictures of the boats. We ended up pulling into the cutest marina, and spending time on the docks looking at sailboats and enjoying the last few minutes of a very good day.

The next day, we decided that it was time to head home. We were in New London, so we could not pass up the opportunity to visit the Coast Guard Academy and show the kids where daddy went to school. It really is a beautiful campus. We walked around and Wes brought us to the grave of Hopley Yeaton. He told us that when you were nervous about an exam, you would rub the grave and it would somehow transfer the missing information onto the student. I think that we need to teach our children better study skills. We went into the chapel, and I loved the Psalm etched into the glass so much that I needed to take a picture of it. Afterwards, we were on a mission for a Connecticut lobster roll. Different than a Maine one, this one has butter and no mayo. Just my speed. We did a a little research and came to find Captain Scott’s Lobster Dock. If I were a lobster, it is where I would like to go to heaven. This was an unplanned trip, but in some ways, it was just what we needed. We got to spend time with people we love and see lots of new things. We came home to a house that had electricity, and a new appreciation for how powerful the weather can be.

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Post tags: coast guard academy, mystic connecticut, new london, road trip, traveling with kids

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We stopped for lunch as soon as we got into the city and went to a place called Jones. The food was okay, but the light was gorgeous. I felt for the business men sitting next to us. The waitress spilled and broke a glass of Coke all over the table and the poor men. How awesome would it be to go back to work in a Coke-soaked suit?

I am so happy to living back where I grew up. South Jersey gets a bad rap, and truthfully, Jersey Shore did not help. But all said and done, it is a great place to be, and was a great place to be a kid. 10 minutes from gorgeous beaches, 20 minutes from rich farm land, 45 minutes from Philadelphia, and 2 hours from New York City. What more could you want?

Will and the Big Guy. I might take up sewing, if my machine was this beautiful.

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Post tags: franklin institute, jersey shore, philadelphia with kids, traveling with kids

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We are going to be living in Alexandria, VA and we could not be more excited. Our house will be ready in the middle of August. I see a lot of adventures in our future.

When we were driving from Kansas to New Jersey, we made a stop in St. Louis. We had big plans of doing the tourist thing and doing a lot of sightseeing and exploring. We created a Summer Bucket List and had big plans of checking lots of them off. Our dog was not down with that plan. Instead, we had an hour in St. Louis and ended up driving straight to NJ. But we thoroughly enjoyed the hour that we had there and I would love to go back.

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Post tags: military move, st louis with kids, the arch, traveling with kids

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