40 Days to #44

Today I noticed that we're 40 days away from the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America. Yes, Barack Obama will take oath on January 20, 2009. And thus I dedicate this blogpost to him and a total of 44 things (some rough rounding used) he will be starting with when he inherits the White House from our current Commander-in-Chief.

Note: some of these weren't started by President George W Bush, but they may have been exacerbated by President #43.

1 -struggling economy

1 -energy crisis

2 -unpopular wars

3 -failing domestic auto manufacturers

7 -percent unemployment rate

8 -out of 10 Americans are overweight

10 -major global conflicts (according to cnn.com)

11 -trillion dollar national debt, AND

1 -heaping helping of HOPE!

44

Here is a great link that shows how he is an ordinary man who does ordinary things in addition to serving our country.

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Closer to 30 than to 25

Note: I'm finishing this post in Jan 2012, so I'll keep it brief and use lots of pictures. Better late than never, right? 

As I get older, I am getting more subdued in my birthday celebrations.

But I still don't want to get boring!

The birthday kids

So for the my 28th, I joined forces with two of my friends, Megan and Anne, since our birthdays are all in December and that way we could throw a good bash all together.

Mmm, Georgetown cupcakes!

Mostly it was a night to socialize and chomp tasty foods, which was what we wanted.
And that gave us all a good chance to catch up with the wonderful well-wishers that came by.

Matty Fischer was under attack

I have no idea what we were thinking;
just being goofballs, I suppose

This birthday trio has got some sweet hops

Well, another birthday has passed, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks to Megan and Anne for making it so great!

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Sara Bringin' NYC Style to DC

Note: I'm finishing this post in Jan 2012, so I'll keep it brief and use lots of pictures. Better late than never, right?

My friend Sara came down from NYC for her first DC visit, and Becca and I made the most of it by showing her a few of our favorite spots.

Saturday brunch at Eastern Market. Gotta get some bluebuck pancakes. Ya just gotta.

Oh, and remember to take cash, because they don't accept cards or checks.

Best way to do it?
Everyone get something different, then share

This reminded me of something clever my mom might do

Cool name for a cool-looking vegetable

With our bellies full, we walked across the street to my favorite bookstore, Capitol Hill Books.
Confession: I've never bought a book there, but it's amazing for pictures, as you'll see.

How appropriate

And of course we had to take Sara down to the National Mall so she could see the monuments.

As friend historian, I'm very proud of this jumping pic

Sara and Becca are so talented at cartwheels and handstands

Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

Thanks for coming, Sara, and we sure hope you'll be back soon.

Or maybe we'll come to NYC and you can show us around your 'hood, eh?

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Vote or Shut Your Yapper for 4 Years

I don't care if you voted for Obama or McCain, Nader or Ron Paul, Burt or Ernie, Bonnie or Clyde.

But if you didn't go to your local voting center and perform your civic duty today, then you have absolutely no room for complaining in the next 4 years.

If you did vote, like me, then feel free to voice your opinions as the next president takes charge in the current challenging situation.

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Viva'ing la Vida on Halloween

So what'd you do on Halloween? Maybe go trick-or-treating? Or to a Halloween party? Good activities, to be sure, but I think mine was a little cooler.

Anne, Bethany, Jeff, and I went to the Verizon Center to see a concert by one of my favorite bands. I'm so glad Anne and Bethany talked us into ponying up the dough to go, because Coldplay put on a fantastic show! They had a bit of theatrics, great (and large) decorations,

songs from the new album and some old favorites, and switched up their stage location very effectively a couple times.

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DC Can Be a Real Drag

Every year, there is an event that takes place here in DC that is unlike any I could even imagine in my hometown of Salt Lake City, UT. Yes, I'm referring to the annual DC Drag Race. A whole bunch of guys dressed up in women's clothing and over-the-top makeup, and they parade up and down the street for a while and let everyone take pictures of/with them. Then they all have a short running race (about a block long). It's quite the festive atmosphere and a bunch of friends and I enjoyed watching the whole spectacle.

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Meeting My Dairy Godmother

I haven't had frozen custard in years. Which means it was high time to end that drought. My friend Tabbi was kind enough to show me the best frozen custard joint in the Greater Washington DC area:We all met up at the store and enjoyed some delicious flavors, including the day's special (oatmeal cinnamon cookie). I devoured my first cup and went back for some chocolate, even though when I got there I wasn't very hungry. Thanks for reminding me how much I love this delicious treat and showing me where to satisfy any future cravings I may have, Tabbi (in the Aggies sweatshirt below)!

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Rollin' with the Amish Homies

Every now and again it's nice to get out of the city and do a bike ride in the country. This weekend a large group of us ventured out to rural Pennsylvania to do a little pedaling among the Amish.

We had different groups that did different distances (10, 15, 30, and 60 miles) and people did whatever pace they wanted given the bike they brought (from tri-bikes to mountain bikes and even some beach cruisers).

It was a fairly leisurely ride, including many stops along the way. We stopped for pictures and just to chat, to see interesting buildings, and to have snacks.

When we got back to our cars, the ride's sponsor (Crazy Richard's Peanut Butter) had provided PB&J sandwiches and energy drinks to satisfy our hunger and thirst. The whole experience was wonderful and I can't wait for the next Amish ride in the springtime.

Note: I forgot to take my camera battery off the charger when I woke up that morning at 6 am, which I didn't realized until I got there. So... unfortunately I don't have any of my own pictures from the ride. My most sincere apologies. Here is Amber's blogpost, though, which has some pics.

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Chance Encounter with "Nephi"

In Mormon culture, it seems that a lot of people have had, or know someone who has had, a chance encounter with one of the three Nephites. Well, I can do them one better. I actually ran into Nephi the other night.Okay, so maybe it wasn't the actual Nephi. But it was a good man nonetheless. And when we served together in the Guatemala City Central mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Eric Richardson was nicknamed "Nephi".

The nickname was appropriate in several ways:

• "young" (maybe not "exceedingly", but still only 19 or 20 at the time)
• "large in stature" (at least compared to me, though I'm not a big guy)
• "lowly in heart" (humble, so this blogpost must be killing him)
• "a ruler (leader) and a teacher"
• "filled with the power of God" (he definitely taught with authority and the Spirit)

I freely admit that these are simply my opinions and that Eric wasn't and isn't perfect. But he was a great missionary and I looked up to him a lot. As a result of that admiration, I was very happy to run into him and his sister (my friend Hannah) while coming home from the metro station. We had a good, short conversation and I'm glad to hear he's doing well.

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Crepetacular Crepetacular

In between the Sunday sessions of General Conference, there was a social gathering at Jay's house, which he has dubbed the Crepetacular Crepetacular. Jay explained to me that this has been happening semi-annually for 7 years, which means this one was the 15th time he's put it on.

There was a great turnout and I got to see lots of friends. We discussed a variety of topics, from the talks on Saturday and that morning, to who people are dating, to bike rides through Amish country, etc.

Jay provided crepes, and we all brought an item that would be delicious either inside of or on top of said crepes. All the tables filled with food made me think of the incredible food being devoured by my family in Salt Lake. Don't you just love the conference feasts? I know I do.

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AIDS Walk 2008

I was up early on Saturday morning, because I'd signed up with my friends to do the AIDS Walk in Downtown DC. Becca and Adam came over, and we took the metro in to meet up with Jeff, Cady, and their son Jarrett. We also ran into my friend Irma--who works at Geico-- and her buddy, the Geico Gecko--who caused extreme (and hilarious) fright for little Jarrett.

After a welcome by DC Mayor Adrian Fenty and Olympian Greg Louganis, we were ready to run. A fair amount of the run was on Pennsylvania Avenue, with the Capitol either right ahead or behind us. Quite cool.

I wasn't pushing too hard, in fact I was trying to hold back and relax, but I still ran the 5K in just under 22 minutes. That's a good sign for me and gives me courage for some races that I'd like to gear up for. Yay for getting up early on a Saturday and getting the blood pumping.

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180 Miles of Ragnar Running

The Ragnar Relay. Three words which will signify torture, sleeplessness, and delight for me for the rest of my life. I ran the race on a team of 12 people, and we did a great job. Our van (#2) got started on Friday afternoon, and the first van (see Melanie's description of the race) had set a great pace in its first legs. After two of my van-mates had run, it was my turn.My first leg was 8.7 miles. Fairly flat, but with a couple short, steep, brutal hills. There had been some strong rain before my leg, but I only got a little drizzle, which was perfect. And the cloud cover kept temperatures down for almost the entire race. I was feeling pretty tired, but we cheered on our runners and eventually made it to the trade-off with the other van fairly late at night.

Once the other van was off running, we drove to the next spot we'd resume running, voraciously chomped some spaghetti dinners, and tried to sleep with all 6 of us in the van. We didn't get a whole lot of sleep (maybe 1-1.5 hours) in our packed quarters, but we didn't have much choice with the rain coming down outside.Van #1 arrived, and we took over while they went to eat and rest. My second leg was 3.2 miles, all downhill, in the wee hours of the morning. I was feeling surprisingly spry and decided to bust out some speed. Turns out running downhill is kinda rough on the joints (though I didn't feel it until the next day) and excellent for running very fast. Even with an almost wrong turn, I was close to a PR for a 5K, as I went under 20 minutes. It felt good to run so late/early and I enjoyed the moonlight and just seeing the headlamp's light illuminating the road just ahead of me as I listened to my breathing and stalked the next runner ahead of me :)

By the time we finished our second legs, my van-mates and I were pretty much tuckered out. We handed off to Van #1 for their final legs, and we drove straight to the last van hand off so we could rest briefly. Fortunately, we got about 2-2.5 hours of sleep this time, and since we went to bed in the dark and woke up to the sunlight, it felt like we'd gotten more shuteye.

My last leg was 4.4 miles, mostly flat. Though I felt like my legs were heavy and I wasn't moving very fast, I was surprised to see the 1 mile left marker earlier than expected. Turns out I was actually running just under 8 min miles, while I thought I was probably doing 9 min miles. A pleasant surprise and I was stoked to finish my leg strong and be done running!

Three more runners, and we were in Crystal City for the finish line. Van #1 had showered, napped, and eaten. I was quite jealous in my smelly, tired, hungry state. When Chris rounded the last corner, we joined him in running across the line. Each of us received a well-earned medal, then we took some team pictures, chatted for a while, and ate anything we could get our hands on. Several friends came to meet us at the finish as well, which was greatly appreciated.

It's hard to describe, and people don't believe us, but though it was a challenging and at times torturous adventure, I would do the Ragnar Relay (or one of its sister relays) again in a heartbeat. Keep on running!

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Ben Folds Rockin' the DAR

DeEtte invited me to go to the Ben Folds concert at the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) Constitution Hall, and we had a great time. It was a little bit of an odd venue for a concert, I'll admit, but it worked. Missy Higgins opened the show, and both DeEtte and I really liked her style and lyrics.

Then Ben Folds came out and he sure is an energetic fellow. He barely sat on his piano bench, as they played a lot of upbeat stuff. He first played stuff from the new CD. After a mini-break, the band came back out and played the oldies and goodies we've come to know and love from Ben Folds. A couple times, DeEtte and I were straight up laughing at the lyrics in Ben's songs. Some very political, some very silly, all very entertaining.

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Wicked Cool NYC Trip

So I don't know when I'll get caught up on the blog posts, but here's my most recent exciting trip: New York City last weekend.

There were a couple reasons. 1) See friends I haven't seen in a while. 2) Go to a Yankees game, since it's the last year before they switch to a new stadium. 3) See some Broadway shows. 4) Go for a run in Central Park.

I can happily report that I accomplished all of these tasks in the 3 days I was there. Here's a quick overview of my weekend.

Thursday

Took the bus to New York. $50 roundtrip. And they had outlets and free wi-fi. Arrive at Penn Station, meet up with my friend Rikki, have dinner at a Persian place, and see the irreverent but hilarious musical "Avenue Q".

Friday

Visit Wall Street, Ground Zero (World Trade Center), and the New York Public Library. Meet up with Adrienne and go to the Museum of Modern Art to be uber-intellectual. Meet up with new friend Sara and old friend Jason, see Yankees game [note: 3rd to last game in the ballpark] and meet new friends Ari and Shira. Go to swanky party in Soho.

Saturday

Run in Central Park along the paths and near the reservoir. Brunch with Adrienne and Sara at the bustling Sarabeths [note: highly recommend the lemon & ricotta pancakes, eggs benedict, or the almond-crusted french toast]. A little shopping with the ladies. Adrienne and I see "Lion King" and are floored by the costumes. Relax in Central Park and take a power nap. Back to Broadway for "Wicked". Great seat (about 10 rows back) and still can't appropriately verbalize how great the show was. The word 'spectacular' doesn't suffice. More play time with Adrienne and Sara.

Sunday

Bus back to DC.

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