Little Moments

Hello everyone!

It has been far too long since we've posted anything.  I started to reflect on this quite a bit since we've moved out here.  Really, we're responsible for one thing: showing up to work 36-40 hours a week (depending on if you're talking to myself or Joe).  This time last year, we had to balance school, part-time jobs, leadership roles in student organizations, research, and social activities. We felt so much busier, but seemed to accomplish so much more.

Why does it feel that time is flying by now that we're out of college? Maybe it's because we appreciate the little moments that we have together when we're both not working or not missing each other due to rotating day/night schedules.  Maybe it's because we look forward to the times we get to spend with friends and family more than anything else.  Perhaps this time out here in DC has given us some serious insight into what's important. Sure, a dream career/profession is wonderful to have, but it's not the sole purpose of being here. It's experiencing new things, growing in each other and in our relationship, and savoring the moments spent and shared with great friends and supportive family. That's why we wanted to share some of our recent moments with you.

Scene 1: War over Cookies!

"Don't even think about it." - Joe

Back story: Once in college, Joe's mom baked us some of her famous oatmeal cookies. (There's magic in them, I swear.) I tended to eat many of these cookies when I would be over at Joe's place visiting. He took to hiding them from me and, when I found them, rationing them out to me on my visits. When Joe's mom sent us some cookies to us here in DC, we devoured them. We fought over who would get the last two. Sharing just didn't seem like an option. In fact, when I threatened to eat the last two cookies before Joe woke up the next day, it led to this:


The war ended peacefully. I left him one of the cookies so he could have one for lunch, too.  I took the crumbs when I got home. Victory is mine. Or shame. I can't tell.

Scene 2: Criminals at the Ice Rink.

Legal photo.

Illegal photo.

It was a close call. From November/December through March/April, the national mall has an outdoor ice skating rink that is open to the public.  Joe and I decided to make a day trip and do a little skating.  We were having our fun, and Joe took out his phone for a photo-op.  Little did we know that our little photo was against the rules! Safety hazard to take photos when you're skating on the ice, you see.  We were asked to take all photos off the rink.  Fair.  But when neither of us wore a watch and Joe took out his phone to check the time, we were called out again.  Rather than entice the wrath of the man-in-yellow, we took a break on the sidelines.

Scene 3: Ikea is a God-Send.
Joe and I spent the first 6 months of our time in this apartment eating bent over our coffee table while sitting on our couch or on the floor.  It's about two feet high. Yes, we know it's glamorous and everybody would do it if they could, but once our backs started to hurt we decided it might be time to hit the local Ikea.  We found this super-cute ("and very manly", says Joe) table.  It works perfectly with our space-to-furniture ratio.  Our backs (and butts!) are saved from discomfort.  Here are the before, during, and after shots. 

Side note: Joe put this together while I was at work.  When I asked why he didn't wait for me to help, he replied, "Sometimes your help does more harm than good. Especially with construction."  I can't exactly say he's wrong.

Scene 4: Roller Derby.  It's REAL! 
Did you know that Washington, DC has a roller derby league? Women-only, hard-core roller skating while simultaneously shoving/falling/grappling, with the sole purpose of racing around in circles to gain points.  Joe and I decided to go and see it for ourselves.  It's. So. Cool! They have concession stands and alcohol and merchandise and alcohol and music and alcohol and girls with names like "Lucy-fer", "Frightmare", and "Dirty Nancy".  It made for a fun day. I may have signed up for information about how to try out. Just maybe. Seriously, though, don't get your hopes up. 

 We love you and miss you all.  Parting words of wisdom from a naive, still-growing-up young lady: Always remember to enjoy those little moments and share them with those you love. They're the best.

Love,
Blake and Joe :)

Hello, Mr. President

Hello everyone!

Joe and I had a very eventful weekend!

First, we visited Joe's best friend, Adam, in Pittsburgh.  We stayed at their place, about one street away from Carnegie Mellon's campus.  Adam and Alyssa, his girlfriend, showed us a great time! We went to Pittsburgh's Public Market-- a local farmers market built on the old shipping yard docks, drank some of the best coffee EVER, ate way too many donuts, and met their pet guinea pig, Wayne.  It was a great time spent with friends, especially in light of the fact that Adam will soon be moving to the Bay Area of California.  We'll miss you, dear friend!

We made it back from Pittsburgh in time to catch a decent night's sleep and then head out to the inauguration ceremony at the butt-crack of dawn on Monday morning.  We arrived at the line to our gate around 6, after waking up at 5, with an outstanding 4 layers of clothing-- and it still felt like it was 3 degrees outside-- only to be surrounded by way "too" many people.  But let's face it, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity (see what I did there, with the counting down?! Ah, I feel so clever!) It was totally worth it.  

Check out the pictures from the day!

The View from our Standing Seats!

Soldiers lined the streets, ready to salute the President.

Literally, a TINY portion of the President's motorcade.

Hooray for Memories!

It was amazing to be a part of this historic day.  It's moments like these that help us make the most of our time while we're here!

Missing everyone terribly! We hope to see you all soon!

Love,

Blake and Joe

Yuletide Cheer

Happy New Year, everyone!

Peppermint Patties! 

We had a great time with family and friends over the holiday.  We went back to Lima to celebrate Christmas with Joe's family and ended up being stranded for an extra day due to the snow blizzard that came through on Christmas night.  It was packed full of family fun, great food, yummy peppermint schnapps, and lots of memories.

Our adventure began on Sunday morning.  Joe picked me up from the hospital after I worked the night shift.  The car was packed full of presents, and the backseat was a makeshift bed that Joe had put together just for me to sleep off my work day in the car.  There was even a toasted bagel on my pillow for breakfast, and a lunch packed for later.  Let's just say, I was very touched.  It's lovely to be taken care of, even better when that person is your best friend and future husband.

Santa Came! 

I digress.  Joe drove through the day and we ended up in Lima just in time for dinner.  By Christmas morning, the whole Flarida brood was there-- all four kids and their significant others.   Santa had also stopped by, and the result was absolutely epic! We must have been nice this year, because we got a HUGE tent from Santa.  It sleeps up to 8 people, so that means that come springtime, we'll be looking for willing volunteers to come camping!

Later, we went over to Joe's Grandpa's house in the afternoon for Christmas celebrations with his extended family.  Cue yummy drinks and white elephant games! Joe made out with a Christmas-themed cheese plate and I got a Shaq bobble head. Winner, winner!

This Would Qualify as "Other Shenanigans".
Joe attempted to hide under the couch cushions to scare Brett.
It didn't work out exactly like he planned. 

That night there was a huge blizzard.  I was supposed to go back to work the following day (we were to leave early in the morning), but they had called level 2 snow emergencies in Columbus, Pittsburgh, and the entire route 69 and 78 was covered with snow.  Easy to say that our little Toyota Corolla, Louise, would have stood no chance.  We decided to place it safe and stay an extra day. We ended up having fun playing in the snow amongst other shenanigans.

We hope everyone else had a great holiday filled with family, friends, and fun!  We love and miss you all.

Blake and Joe :)

Christmas in the Capitol!

National Botanical Garden!

Hello everyone!

We’ve been having a very mild Christmas season.  Today, December 18^th, we had a high of 60 degrees.  It’s nuts!  The warm weather hasn’t kept the Christmas spirit at bay, though! There are Christmas lights up (even in our apartment), Christmas trees for sale are lining the streets of Eastern Market, the National Tree has been lit, trains are chug-a-lugging through the National Botanical Gardens, and they’re selling hot cocoa and hot cider everywhere you turn.  You can see us frolicking in the Botanical Gardens in the picture!

We were also lucky enough to attend the National Christmas tree lighting by the Capitol Building. There was security and everything!  It was a gorgeous sight-- take a look!

Capitol Christmas Tree from Colorado!

Joe and I spent a surprisingly stressful weekend finishing up our Christmas shopping and attending holiday parties.  The parties were fun —there was food, drinks, and friends to go around—but the shopping! Goodness gracious.  People everywhere, constant traffic.  Joe and I realized we like to shop for a solid 1.5 hours and then it just isn’t fun anymore. But, hey, we survived and I think we’re a stronger couple for it.

In any case, we got a great stack of presents and it was even more fun wrapping them up. Joe had to teach me a trick or two, traditions handed down by his late Grandma Ruth. We’ve reached that point in life where giving is way more fun than receiving.  Hopefully we’ll make a lot of people happy with our gifts!

Impressive or what?!

With that, we wish everyone the happiest of holidays! We’re headed back to Lima to visit Joe’s family for a couple of days. Stay tuned—I’m sure we’ll have stories to go around!  Safe travels and Merry Christmas!

Love to you all!  

Blake's Books: Holiday Picks!

Hey everyone!

For those who know me well, you know I like to read.  Young Adult (YA) novels, mostly.  I'm constantly looking for new books to read and many ask for my recommendations. In light of the holiday season, here are my top picks! They make a great read by a cozy fire or a wonderful gift.  

1. "Divergent" by Veronica Roth. 
This is an ongoing triology.  I don't know about you, but I love to beat the bandwagon.  This is a series that is about to be big.  The first book is already in the pre-production process in becoming Hollywood's next Hunger Games, which I also recommend reading. Currently, two of three books have been published. This is a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel in which a futuristic Chicago is divided in five factions; at sixteen, one must choose which faction to spend the rest of their life serving, and it is not necessarily the faction in which they grew up.  You follow young Tris on the journey of her decision and what becomes of the bigger picture.  This book was so good that it made me want to get a tattoo. (You'll understand when you read it.)  This book also made me think about the role that politics, community, responsibility, and identity plays in our lives.  It's awesome.  Worth the read. Also, it has some great, classic romance.  None of this love-triangle crap that is permeating everything these days. Don't people know that those kind of relationships are just unhealthy and unsustainable?!

I digress. Back to the point, I like this book for a multitude of reasons.  I've read it six times and counting.

Quotes from the critic (aka Joe) sent via text message: "LOVED EVERY SINGLE PAGE!" When's the next book come out?!

2. "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor. 
 This is another ongoing triology. This is a bit of a fantasy novel, and it's absolutely fantastic.  If you're into realistic fiction or even non-fiction, just try it anyway. Please.  It's beautifully written and expertly crafted to keep you always asking questions.  The story is original. I was absolutely lost in this book.  I've read it 3 times thus far; I started it again tonight when I was thinking about my recommendations.  Yes, it's that good.
 
Here's a taste:
"Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.  
In a dark and dusty shop, a devils's supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.  
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war."

If you like it, you're in luck because the second book just came out, "Days of Blood and Starlight".  The third and final installment is due out November 2013.


3. "Unwind" by Neal Shusterman. 
This book is wee bit controversial, but that's part of why I like it so much.  This is actually a futuristic novel after the settlement of a pro-life vs. pro-choice war.  Children cannot be aborted before birth, but can be legally "unwound" by their parents once they turn thirteen.  The story follows three kids who are sent to be unwound by their circumstances.  It's a heavy read, I'll give you that.  It makes you think about things that you might be uncomfortable talking about: religion, science, politics, ethics.  That's what I love about these books, they make me stop and think about my ideas and values.  Books shape me to be a better person, or at least I'd like to think so.

4. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer
Yes, this is the same woman who wrote the Twilight series.  Don't. Judge.  This book is Meyer's first adult novel and it surpasses Twilight in every sense.  I'm allowed to say this because I'm a huge Twi-head and I'm not judging based on prejudice.  It's just a better book. Yes, singular, only one book. That hasn't kept me from reading it about four times, though.

I can sum up my review by quoting one of my literature professors: "This book makes me think about my soul."  What is a soul? What does it mean to me? to others? What is it's importance? If you're not looking to do a personal inventory on your personal beliefs, you can just sit back and enjoy the romance and alien invasions.  Be sure to beat the bandwagon! The movie is due out in March!



That's all I have for now. I hope you enjoyed these recommendations at some point in time.  If you have any suggestions for me, leave a comment and I'll put it on my to-read list!

Lots of love!
Blake and Joe

Thanksgiving in Lawrenceburg!

Hello everyone!

We had such a fun, relaxing weekend when we came back to Ohio for Thanksgiving.  We spent the holiday with Blake's family in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.  Oh, it was a trip full of surprises!

Awesome Foursome!

We left after I got off work at 7:30 Wednesday night.  That meant that we got into Lawrenceburg at 4:30am Thursday.  Though we drove throughout the night, we had our good friend Joey carpooling with us.  Between that, Christmas music, and late-night coffee breaks at McDonald's, the trip went faster than we expected. Though it was exciting to be back to see everyone, we wouldn't really get to say hello until a more appropriate morning hour; or so we thought.  My cousin, Angie, surprised us by camping out in the basement to welcome us home. She wasn't supposed to make it back for the holiday at all-- let alone be waiting for us in the middle of the night. I think I woke the house up because I screamed so loud with excitement.  It's the first time in a long time that the four cousins, Blake, Morgan, Angie, and Maria were all home.  Bless Joe for hanging around so much estrogen.

Tater and Joe

Another surprise awaited us with Tater, the new dog that my Aunt Karen and Uncle Don adopted.  We deduced that "Tater" was short for "Couch PoTater" because this dog is literally the biggest cuddle monster ever. If he never left the couch, he'd probably be happy. Cue the cute picture of Joe and Tater snuggling!

 Another fun little surprise, Christmas came early!  Joe and I discussed going out and doing some Black Friday shopping but decided against it, especially after having such a long and stressful drive the night before.  Little did we know that my Uncle Don went out to buy us our Christmas present from himself, Aunt Karen, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Greg: a new flatscreen tv.  I don't know if I can describe the extent of Joe's excitement.  The poor man has been stuck streaming ESPN on his computer for the entire Buckeye season and now that it's over, he has the ability to stream it to our big screen. It's awesome, I'll admit.  But who needs electronics when you can make Christmas cookies?!

Cookie Time with Angie and Morgan!

Last surprise, we were in Columbus on Saturday night to pick up our friend Joey to carpool back to DC when Joe's parents and family invited us for a evening of pizza, chit-chat, and Joe's little nephew Liam having so much fun with his new-found ability to walk and say "Wow", "Mama", and "Cracker". 

 It was great to see so many people on our trip.  It makes us realize that no matter how wonderful this adventure is out here in D.C., there really is no place like home. 

Sisterly Love!

Thank you to everyone who made this an amazing holiday!

Fall Fun!

In order to celebrate our favorite season, fall, we've had a little fun over the past couple of weeks. 

Dinner is Served!

Our friends John and Zach invited us over for an autumnal meal. Joe has dubbed this event "Friendsgiving".  I'm proud to say it our first themed dinner party in D.C.  Basically, it was a group of new friends coming together to give thanks and celebrate all the blessings that life has given us. 


John and Zach invited us over to their apartment where we met our friends Joey, Erin, Micheal, and Kathy. We had refreshing pumpkin beer, scrumptious buffalo chicken dip appetizers, and a deliciously planned meal of mushroom gravy pork chops, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts, and butternut-squash soup. (Is your mouth watering? Yeah, mine is too.)  Top that all off with pecan pie and vanilla ice cream, and you're bursting at the seams with deliciousness. It. Was. Awesome. We're so thankful for all of these individuals, who coincidentally all attended Ohio State at some time or another, and their friendship.  It has made this big city feel like a little more like home.

John and Zach, our Wonderful Hosts!

If you know Joe, you may know that his holiday specialty is making cinnamon-sugar roasted pecans. In fact, my family literally fights each other for them.  In honor of our upcoming visit to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving, we decided to make a batch and bring them home with us. 







Below are some pictures of our baking adventure.  I'll tell ya what, Christmas music, sipping hot apple cider, and dancing around like a crazy person while baking with the person you love makes some wonderful memories.

Yummy!

Let's get ready to rumble!

We are both so excited to head back to Ohio for the holidays! We hope that we can see as many people as we can while we're there.  Love and miss you all!

Blake and Joe <3