Last weekend in Morelia

Today was the last regular day of classes. We start our presentation exams on Monday, but I´m not scheduled to present until Tuesday. We finished reading Los Ojos de Carmen today in class. I have already finished my story for my exam and today I got it checked and ok´ed by the professor. I read it to my host family after we finished eating lunch today. It´s pretty goofy, but they all will be. My host parents thought it was funny. I still have to get my props and practice reading the story this weekend. Kara stayed home and took a nap after lunch and I went to the internet cafe to say hi to Matt and email my professor back home. I also bought some more minutes for my cell phone here (I forgot to tell you I bought a cell phone for $15 US at the beginning of the week to keep in touch with the other students because we aren´t really supposed to use our host family´s phone). I also found out that I could text and call to the states on it, but it uses a lot more minutes. After Kara woke up for her nap we met up with Nikki, Patricia, Sara, Josh, Professor Watson, Shermail, Bobby, Whitney, and Sam to go to a restaurant downtown. We ended up going to a little local place. I had tostadas and a pepsi! Oli, Kara´s boyfriend or whatever, met up with us and we all headed to a bar to hang out for a bit. There was live music, but I was pretty tired. Plus I just sat there by Kara and translated to her all the sappy things Oli kept saying. We stayed for 45 minutes and then I told Kara to tell her lover boy goodnight.

Morelia is such a beautiful city

Today we picked up our last three cuentos (little children´s books) to read for tomorrow. We have been reading three different grade level children´s books every night and reading one of them to our host family or roommate. We are also almost done with our chapter book, Los Ojos de Carmen. I don´t normally read that much, but I have actually really enjoyed reading this book. It has a dictionary in the back of the book which is extremely helpful. I like reading it because I can see how much I´m learning based on how quickly and how much of the story I understand. It´s only a fifth or sixth grade spanish reading level, but that is perfect for me! After class and after eating lunch with my family I met up with Sara, Whitany, Meghan, and Tiffany. We took a bus to meet up with Sara´s host sister, and Sam. We took taxis up to the top of the mountain in Morelia. The view, even on the way up, was amazing. We got out at a park that surrounds this really tall flag poll. I could see all of Morelia from the top of the mountain. It was so gorgeous (it would have been nice to have a certain someone here to sit with me!). I took so many pictures as the sun set and as the lights of the city started to shine. It was a little chilly and I´m glad I brought a sweater, but I still broke out on my face a little from the wind. After it started to get too dark we headed back down the mountain and hung out at Casa de Salsa where we met up with Kara and her new Mexican boyfriend. We had a really good time hanging out and listening to their salsa music before we headed home.

Almost the weekend

School was really good today...we found out what we had to do for our final exam next week. We have to write a short story in spanish that goes along with four story comic pictures we were given out in class. I have to write a story and choose actors from the class to act out my story. We have to create a quiz and teach the class our story. It sounds like fun and hopefully not too difficult. After lunch every day we sit and talk to our host family for about an hour. It really helps me practice my spanish. Especially because I sometimes have to try to translate for Kara when she doesn´t know how to say something. After taking with them, we went to a piano concert downtown. It was at the art museum. The concert only lasted about 45 minutes, but it was really enjoyable. A big group of the students hung out downtown for a while before we realized it was getting late and we should all head home. The taxi driver got a flat tire on the way to our house and I tried to help this not so smart little Mexican man change his tire...it was ridiculous. He was not even sure he had a spare! It took quite a while for us to get home, but we made it safely.

school and homework

Today was pretty uneventful. I woke up early this morning so I could take Kara´s computer to school and use skype. I was able to talk to Matt for a while before class which was really nice! Class was good and it went by pretty quickly. After going to the internet cafe for a bit we headed home for lunch. We stayed home to do homework and study. That is all we did all day. Kara doesn´t feel well and I´m pretty tired so no plans for tonight. Goodnight. Miss you Matt, Mom, Dad, Kayla, Haydon! And all of you others...I miss you too!

Back to class

School was about the same as always. Learning a lot and class is always so animated. Our professor is really good at making class enjoyable. I can tell my spanish is getting better but it is difficult to keep the tenses straight. The stories we have been reading are in the past tense and I have caught myself speaking in the past tense when I shouldn´t. I´ll get there eventually! After class and after blogging we went home to eat lunch. My señora made a Mexican dish and it was great. After eating we hurried to meet up with the group of students that were going to the zoo today! At the zoo I got to hold a snake! They draped it over my shoulders and I held the rest of its body in my hands. The snake kept moving its face towards mine and I was a little nervous becaue it was a pretty large snake! I´ll put picture on here when I get back to Tennessee. I waited on two other students and we lost the group. I tried to catch up and the two girls I was waiting with stopped to look at something else. I didn´t catch up to the group and by that time, I lost the two other girls I was with! I was walking through the zoo by myself. It was kinda fun though because I got to go at my own pace. It was a huge zoo. I saw a baby lion, monkeys, turtles, ponnies, etc. My favorite was a parrot that I walked by and it said HOLA to me! When I told Matt I was going to the zoo today he asked me to find out if the animals speak spanish here too and they did! It was so funny. I was by myself standing there saying hola back and forth with the bird. I laughed for a while about my conversation with the parrot. It started to rain so I had to hide under different umbrellas or animal areas that were covered until the rain stopped. When I was walking through the area with the baby animals or smaller animals I saw one of the really big turtles stuck on its back! I was so worried because I could tell she had been struggling for a while. I ran to get help from one of the zoo employees who was inside a room. I told him in spanish that the tortuga was...and I had to do hand motions to show him flipped, because I didn´t know the word. He came and flipped the turtle over. He said the turtles are trying to mate and the male turtle had flipped her over! The zoo was about to close by the time I met back up with the group. They were so excited to see me...they thought I was really lost! I didn´t mind at all though. I saw some animals that the group had missed. After coming home from the zoo, eating, and getting ready to go back out, Kara and I met some of the group at a bar. After hanging out there for a while we headed home.

A Late Heads Up!

The internet cafe is not open on Saturday or Sunday so the posts will be slightly delayed. Ill get to the internet on the Monday after each weekend. So don´t worry if they aren´t up right away!

Free Day

Today we slept in till 10:30. It was amazing. I do have a difficult time sleeping though...I have not slept a whole night through since I´ve been in Mexico. After getting up and dressed, I called Brittany and Natalie to see what they were getting into. We met and walked to McDonnalds where we met with our Watson, our professor, Andre, and Josh. We went to the movies and split up to see the movie we wanted to watch. I saw My Sister´s Keeper. It was good but extremely sad. I cried through the entire movies. After the movie Kara and I headed home to do our homework that is due tomorrow. It was not a very eventful day, but it was relaxing.

Excursion day

We started the day very early. We had to be at school by 8:30 to take the bus to our first stop of the day. We were headed to Santa Carla de Cobre (copper). The town is known for their copper making skills. I got to see how they mold/hammer the copper into the shapes of the different pots, plates, and more. I bought something for my mom today! She has to wait to find out what it is till I get home! It was so interesting watching the entire family for generations and generations, work on copper. The family´s house we went to had workers that were the fifth generation of copper workers in their family. It was such intense and strenuous work. The little boys were even working to help with fan the fire. After shopping around their house for the copper products they had made, we walked around the little town and did some more shopping. Our second stop for the day was a town called Patzcuaro. The town was so pretty. The buildings were all connected but were all the same white and dark red color. We went to the Basilica there and a tour of one of their museums! The city was really unique and extremely beautiful! There was a wedding at the Basilica, but I didn´t get to see the bride. We did a lot of walking today...like always here! I love the exercise though. We walk almost everywhere we go in Morelia. My host mom packed me a sandwich and and apple, but by the time we got back to Morelia I felt like I was starving! We went to Subway at the Centro Commercial! It was funny eating there, but also kinda nice! We went home and changed before going back out to downtown Morelia. Every Friday and Saturday they have a big event downtown and they light up the Cathedral. They had live music, put on a light show, and set off fireworks. It was fantastic! There were dancers in the streets and music everywhere. After watching the fireworks, we all got ice cream! We sat around and talked for a while before finding taxis and heading home. It got a little chilly out so I was definitely ready to go inside. It was pretty late so we headed to bed for a long night of sleep. (Sunday is a free day so we get to sleep in!)

Friday!!!

Today was the last day of class for the week! YAY I got to talk to Matt for a little bit this morning on skype from Kara´s computer. Right after class we went to the Mercado de Dulces with the group of students. It is a really big market full of individual stands where people sell their hand made goods (that mostly say Morelia on them) and home made sweets! We walked around the market and I got some souvenirs. After our shopping trip, we headed home to have lunch with our host family. We had chicken, our senora´s version of mac-n-cheese, salas, and beans. She has been trying to make the food as American as possible...I wish she wouldn´t though. I really like original Mexican food. We had cooking class today at 5. The teacher of the class hosted the class at her house. She had a really fancy and big house. We cooked agua de Jamaica, sopa de frijoles (bean soup), stuffed chicken (don´t remember the spanish name), and arroz con leche for dessert (rice pudding). She gave us a sheet with all the ingredients so I can make it for my family when I go home! After we made all of the food we got to eat all of the food! It was all so delicious. The chicken was pretty spicy so I´ll have to figure out how to make it a little less spicy so my mom can eat it! When we were finished talking and eating all our yummy food we headed back to our houses. Some of the group went out, but I was too physically and emotionally tired. I went home, showered, and tried to fall asleep. Back home I live pretty far out into the country, but here we are surrounded by other houses and it is pretty noisy sometimes! Buenas noches!

Class and late, late, late

This morning we were late to breakfast again. I thought I would have a really hard time adjusting to speaking only spanish to my host family, but I am actually having the hardest time adjusting to having a roommate. I have never lived with a roommate before. My roommate takes a long time to get ready and we are always late. Even if it is just by a few minutes, we have been late to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is different when you are the only person and know one is depending on you, but I have to wait for her which makes me late too. I feel rude showing up late, especially when we should have plenty of time to be ready before the time they have set for meals or activities. After class today I was able to get on line and talk to Matt for a bit and check my emails and bank account. After returning to the house, Kara and I spent some time talking with our host family before doing our homework. After we finished most of our homework we had lunch and then walked around the city for a bit. We got a little lost from the directions. I got from our host dad and so we stopped in a gas station and I bought a map of the city. That was a much needed purchase anyways. Kara and I figured out where we were going and headed to the Plaza de Mercado. It was kind of like a shopping mall but there was also a grocery store at the back side of it. We met up with Patricia and Nikki on the way there. We did a little bit of window shopping. Kara and I were able to bond and talk a little more while we walked through the mall. I bought some vitamin c disolvable tablets at the grocery because I was starting to feel a slight sore throat coming on this morning. We stayed in the shops while it was raining and then headed home. We had a sandwich for dinner. It was really interesting, but also very good. It was ham or maybe turkey in between pinto beans on white bread. Lunch here is the biggest meal of the day so we end up eating lighter for dinner, but the sandwich filled me up. We finished our homework, I showered, and then we went to bed. One thing I have noticed about doing my blogs is that it is more difficult to spell in english as I learn more spanish!

More of the culture!

Today we walked to class early so that Kara could get her book from one of her classmates and do her homework that was due today. While she was doing homework I got on her computer and called Matt and then my mom on Skype. It was really really good to actually talk to them. After talking to both of them I had to go to class. Class was good today, we are learning and telling short stories in class that are goofy, but help me remember the different rules and vocab in each story. During our break for class we went downstairs to the taco store and got a couple small tacos. They were so delicious and ordering my food is an extra way to practice my spanish. Today we have more homework because we have to read and teach our host family the stories that we learn in class. I enjoy learning all of the spanish but they did warn us when we got here that this was not a vacation. The point of the trip is to learn spanish and experience the culture of Mexico. After lunch and doing some of my homework, Kara and I met up with Brittany and Natalie and we walked to downtown Morelia where we were going to have our Salsa Class. Salsa class was at la Casa de Salsa. Class was so much fun, but it was most definitely a work out too. The teacher stood in the front of the class and did the moves as she explained it in spanish. We then followed her to some music. After that she paired us off and we began to salsa. I had to dance with a few guys from the trip and it was a lot less fun and more difficult because they had no idea what they were doing. The teachers were a lot more helpful but all in all the class was really enjoyable. I will most likely be sore tomorrow! After class some of the students walked to AppleBees...yes there is an AppleBees here, but Kara and I walked home and had dinner with our family. Kara and I talked for a long time in our rooms as we finished our homework before going to bed.

The first day of class

We woke up at 8:00 this morning and had plenty of time to relax and get ready for the day. Class started at 10:30 this morning and we headed to school after eating breakfast with our host dad. This morning we had cereal and fruit. They had special K, apples, bananas, and mango. She prepares all of the meals to accomodate to our American taste buds with a little bit of Mexican flare. We went to school and Kara went up one more flight of stairs for her class. I am taking spanish conversation. My teacher from MTSU is my teacher at the KIIS center aka our school. We had an hour of class, a 30 minute break, and one more hour of class. It was a very quick and informative class and I feel like I am going to learn a lot on this trip. I have really enjoyed living with a host family because they are extremely helpful with our conversation skills. After class I went to the internet cafe beside the school to talk to my family and my boyfriend on skype. I got to the internet cafe and found out that I was not able to download skype to the computer which was a big disappointment. I got on facebook and was able to chat with my mom, Matt (my boyfriend), and my cousin Autumn. It was so nice to talk to them, even though it was only on chat. It´s really difficult to adjust to not speaking to the people that I´m used to seeing every day. I am making a lot of new friends and really enjoy my experience in Mexico, but I wish I could talk to or see my family and boyfriend back home. We had lunch with our host family after leaving the internet cafe. She prepared pork chops, salad, potatoes, and soup. It was all very delicious. Kara and I walked back to the school because a bunch of the students wanted to go hang out at a cafe and get snacks and coffee and talk about our families. We´re waiting on one more of our friends and then we are going to a popular cafe in Morelia. After that we are going back to the house for dinner and then I have to finish my homework. I will have about 45 minutes of reading homework everyday for my spanish class. Until tomorrow. Hasta luego.

Morelia is a beautiful city!

We woke up and got ready in time to eat breakfast with our host family at 8:30. Maria had cut up apples, bananas, cantalope, and watermelon. We also had toast with strawberry jam. Oh I forgot...last night she made us chicken with a very delicious pasta with white cream sauce and salad. After breakfast we rushed to the KIIS center to meet up with our class to start our walking tour of Morelia. We had to rush because my roommate is a little bit more high maintanence than I and it took her quite a long time to get ready in the mornings. We will have to work on that because I really don´t want to be late to class when we live closest out of all the other students. It only takes us maybe five minutes to walk to school! We went to lots of Cathedrals and saw downtown Morelia. It was filled with history and the buildings were so much prettier than Mexico City. We saw tons of beautiful murals again and took tons of photos. We returned to the KIIS center at 1 where Antonio had walked to pick us up (walk us home). They have a car, but it is so close and we will have to walk to school everyday. We rested at our house for a while before eating lunch with our family. She made a meat and veggie pie that was delicious, some soup, bread, and salad. I came to the KIIS center to use the internet and then we are going to a welcome banquet with our host families at 8:00 tonight. Classes start tomorrow morning.

Last tour of Mexico City then off to Morelia

The alarm woke me up before I was ready to get up again. I´m not used to getting up at 7:30, but the breakfast buffet is from 7:30-8:30. Thankfully I did sleep well last night, the first night was a little rough for sleep. After breakfast Brittany, Natalie, and I walked around the corner to the ATM to get some more pesos. After meeting back at the hotel we walked to the Plaza where we saw the ruins of Tenoctitlan and the Cathedrals built beside it. The Spanish cam over and destroyed the Aztec cities and then used the stone and lava rock to build their new empire and cathedrals as a sign of power and converting the people to Catholicism. The ruins at this site were spectacular. The were very well preserved and you could tell that there was still much underground that had not been uncovered. I could still see the paint in some of the main rooms on the carved stone benches and walls. We went into the Museum that held the other loose artifacts from the Aztec civilizations. After we saw the ruins and took many photos, we traveled across the Plaza to the old Parliament building that was originally Cortes´s Palace that was built on top of Montezuma. We saw tons of wall murals done by Diego Rivera, a famous Mexican painter. We went into the Cathedral that had been built out of the stone taken from the Aztec citty and I could tell it was the same stone they had uncovered in the ruins. After all of our picture taking we walked back to the hotel. We walked to 7 Eleven and bought some snacks for the 4 hour bus ride to Morelia where we would meet our host families. Most of the students slept the whole way to Morelia. The lady of the family was waiting at the KIIS center (our school) to pick up me and Kara. Her name is Maria and her husband is Antonio. They are both very nice and do not speak hardly any english...which is good for learning. Kara and I talked to our host parents for a few hours and got lots of practice as we got to know more about their lives. The house was very pretty. They have beautiful tile floors and extremely nice wood furniture. I think I was not expecting their house to be as nice as it is. After our long talk, Kara and I headed to bed because it was another long day!

The first day to see Mexico City

The first stop of the bus was at the Plaza de las tres culturas. It was a church that had ruins beside it and a new part of the church added onto the back side of the church. The second stop of the day was to the Basilica. It is a church deemed holy by the pope in Rome. It was originally built because the Virgin Mary, known here as the Lady of Guadalupe, told one of the conquistadors to build a sanctuary. There was a lot of religious history and there were three buildings. The oldest and first was built on the hill and the second larger structure was built down the hill. They had to build a third building because the second building was on uneven ground because of a fault line. The majority of the people in Mexico are Catholic so there was lots of church history and many people in the Basilica to pay respect or pray. The bus then took us to Teotihuacan to see the pyramids and ruins there. It was amazing...truly breathtaking. Our tour guide´s name was Ricardo. He knew so much about the temples and pyramids. Everything the Aztec´s built had a purpose and was built to perfection. The angles of the steps were made at 92 degrees so that it would make great accustic sound that if at the right angle sounded like the song of a bird when you clapped. The history and culture or the Aztec people was fantastic. We climbed three pyramids all day. The tallest, the sun pyramid, was 245 step up and 245 steps back down. I was very tired but the view was phenominal. I´ve never seen anything like it or experienced such history with a landmark. We went under some of the ruins and Ricardo, our tour guide, told us the story of how the Aztec´s believed the sun and moon were created. It was a story passed generation to generation that was really interesting. He turned the lights off in the cave and started a little fire so it felt very real and I felt like I was experiencing the history. The Aztec´s believed in Harmony with the Earth and the animals. The people selling souvineers they had made were very very pushy, but it was all part of the experience. The Aztec´s believe that something big will happen on December 23, 2012 at 12:23 am when their calendar ends. We had a late lunch at the family of the tour guide´s house. They prepared and served us a 5 course meal. We started with sopa de frijoles (a bean soup), then we ate tortas, then rice and chilis poblanos, then chicken, and for dessert ate cactus pear and cantalope. It was all very delicious and although I had worked up an appitite, I did get very full. We headed back to the hotel after talking for a while. Me and Kara stayed in the room for the night to relax from a very long day.

Mexico!

Hola! Matt took me to the airport this morning at 7:45. I had to be at the aiport at 9:15 because the flight was leaving from Nasvhille at 11:15. I was able to meet and talk to the people from our group going on the Morelia Trip. The personalities going on the trip range as widely as the levels of spanish speaking. I met most of the people that would be taking the spanish conversation class with me and some that were taking entry level spanish 1010. Some people had traveled to other countries and some had not even been out of Tennessee. It was very interesting getting to know all of those different people throughout the flights and waits at the airport. We had to fly to Houston where we had a 50 min wait for the next flight to Mexico City. I scarfed down a pizza and ran to the next gate to make the plane. I saw and heard many spanish speakers while we were in Texas. The first plane had two seats, an isle, and another seat. It was very small but only about two hours. The second flight had three seats on each side of the isle which made for a much more comfortable flight. Sam and Bobby were my seat buddies on the plane. They were also in the Kiis program. We arrived in Mexico City around 4:30 and headed to the hotel. We stayed at Hotel Gillow. The room was pretty big. 4 of us girls in one room that was subdivided into two rooms with a hallway with a bathroom in it. We all had our own bed. I picked the second part of the room and Kara, another student I met on the trip, was in that room as well. Brittany and Natalie, the daughters of the professor from MTSU, were in the first part of the room. We were in room 513 (the fifth flour). The view out our window was incredible. It was a little chilly in the evenings in Mexico City. One main thing in noticed in the city and from the plane was that there is not much grass in Mexico City. They have planted trees in every possible place, but hardly any grass. The buildings are all wall to wall covering almost every square foot possible. It rained a lot on the way to the hotel. I was able to talk more in depth to my new amigos y amigas on the bus. I am really excited to be in Mexico and have really enjoyed getting to know so many people that I could be friends with even after the trip. We had dinner at Cafe de Tacuba which was made in 1919. It was a beautiful building and the food was amazing. I ate tostadas con chorizo. I sat by Brittany and Kara on the other side. A local band played some tradition Mexican music while we ate! I was extremely exhausted by the time we made it back to the hotel and very ready for bed!

The Ride Home!

We woke up early, packed lunch, and put the rest of our stuff in the car. We said goodbye to his mom and sister and got on the road. The trip went by so quickly, I'm sure we both would've liked a couple more days! We sang for the video camera and listened to a couple of really hilarious comedians' cds on the ride home. We got into Murfreesboro around 6:30ish, unpacked his stuff at his house, and then he took me to my house and we had dinner with my fam. Sad that the trip is over, but extremely happy that I was able to go and that things went so well. I will look forward to many more vacations with Matt!

Gramma Miki and Fort Story

Matt and I helped his mom with some house/yard work this morning and then we got ready for the beach. Lynda, Matt's mom, Matt, and I headed to the beach after packing lunch. It started to pour while we were driving so she thought it would be a good idea to go visit his grandma before trying to go to the beach. We went over to his Gramma Miki's house (met up with Missy-she was already there) and spent a couple hours talking and listening to all of her great stories of memories from her childhood and about their family history. We ended up eating our packed lunch inside because it didn't look like it was clearing up to be a very good beach day. After saying our goodbyes we headed to the beach to see if we could maybe get one more beach day. It still hadn't really cleared up so they decided to take me to Fort Story, a military base, and show me the Cape Henry Light House. We walked up the "millions" of stairs to get to the top where we could see the other working lighthouse and the shoreline! It was a beautiful view, but still no sun. We stopped by Matt's dad's house one more time and then drove back to the house to pack. It has been a wonderful trip. I wish we could've had one last day at the beach, but there is always next time! Time for bed...no falling asleep on the ride home!

Sailing!

Today we had a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and then it was off to the beach!  Matt found a secret pocket in his wallet that was full of unused gift cards so after free gas at Wawa and free Slurpees at 7-11, we went to FYE to get some free music and a dvd for the ride home. Then we met up with Matt's step brother Carl to go sailing on Carl's sailboat. It was beautiful out and we got some really great pictures. When we got home we showered and then went to see Taking of Pelham 123 with Matt's mom. 

Lazy Day

Nothing much to say about yesterday. Matt took his car in again to get fixed and then we waited around the house for them to call and tell us that his car was ready. Around 3 we went to Trina and Buddy's house to pick up the groceries/household goodies that Trina bought for Matt to take home. Then we went to Matt's dad's house for another cookout. We caught up with one of Matt's friends from childhood at a local bar. Then we went home and now we're going to bed! Goodnight

Band of Horses

A relaxed and lazy morning then we were off to the beach. We stopped at Doumar's for some BBQ sandwiches. We collected some shells, watched a few people surf (or attempt to surf), splashed around for a bit, and took a long walk up and down the beach before we realized we were getting a little too pink. We ran through the sand to avoid burning our feet. After our beach fun we went to get ice cream at Handles which is an ice cream shop that Matt's grandparents own. The ice cream was delicious. We came home, showered, and ate dinner with Matt's mom. Then we went to the Norva where we saw Band of Horses play! They were amazing...the show was really great and we got to hear a lot of their new songs.

DC

The alarm was set for 5:30! After a quick shower, we were on the road. After a funeral procession and lots of traffic, we arrived in Vienna at around 9:30 and took the metro to DC. When we got to DC we headed straight to the Zoo. We saw lions and tigers and bears oh my! (aka zebra, gorillas, pandas, hippos) We went to a picnic area and ate the yummy pb&j and snacks that Matt packed for us. Then it was back to the metro. We walked through the Federal Triangle and then went to the Smithsonian Museums. Our first stop in the National Mall was the Smithsonian Castle. Then we went to the Hirshhorn Museum where we saw a giant naked man sculpture. Then we walked next door to the Air and Space Museum. From there, we walked out into the center of he "Mall" and got some photos of the Capitol building. Then we took a long walk to the American History Museum which was filled with tons of artifacts of American popular culture and history (Lincoln's hat and Dorothy's ruby slippers to name a couple). Matt walks really fast and I had to remind him to slow down a lot but we walked close to the Washington Monument and a very nice Asian man took a couple photos of us by the monument. Then we walked over to the White House...we saw Obama playing in the front yard with his dog and he asked us to come in and have dinner. Only playing, but we did get some neat pictures of the White House and their sneaky secret service people. After that we made an attempt to walk to the Lincoln Memorial but the storm clouds had a different idea for the outcome of our day. We quickly made our way back to the metro. We made it down the stairs right as it began to rain. We rode the metro back to Vienna and ran to the car. It stormed most of the ride home. We stopped at Ponderosa (all you can eat buffet) for dinner. I got some pics of the sunset, a beautiful rainbow, and some lightening! We fell asleep almost immediately after we got home. I had a great time with Matt today....it was a long day filled with fun. He was very sweet and we had a great adventure exploring the city together. 

SpicyBeachBEES

I had to follow Matt to the auto repair shop this morning because his car was making some awful screechy noises. After we got home, Matt had to leave for his dentist appointment so I did a salsa work out video with Missy while he was gone. When they finished working on his car we headed to the beach. We went to about 52nd street and enjoyed a much more calm beach day. Missy took some fun shots of us playing in the water. We took Matt's mom to Applebees for dinner. When we got home we planned our trip for the next day!!

Uncle Buddy and Aunt Trina

Missy, Matt, and I went to the beach this morning!! There were a lot of soccer tournaments going on on the beach today. We went to about 19th street (we've been going further down to about 50-60th street) so it was very crowded, but it was still fun. We took a walk down to the pier and took some pictures and then of course caught some rays. We were a little early to Matt's aunt and uncle's house. We snacked on some very yummy dip and then headed to the boat. His uncle Buddy took us on a boat ride out on the Ocean. The water was super choppy, but it was a lot of fun! After the boat ride we had a cook out that was also extremely delicious. We talk with the fam for a while and then headed home for the night. 

Rob Dyrdek day

Today was the day we were setting off to meet Rob Dyrdek. We had a Mr. Potato Head with us ready for him to sign...it's an inside thing from work. As we were driving by Costal Edge where he would be later that day, we saw there was already a line and so they decided that I needed to run and get into line. Matt didn't even completely stop before they were urging me to hop out to get in line. We waiting in line from 12:30 to 4:30 when we finally got to meet him. While standing in line we realized that not too many more people were going to get through the line because he was leaving at 5. They cut the line off about 15 people after us. (It was a good thing I got out of the car that quickly). It was a long boring wait, but Rob signed our stuff and said a number into Matt's video camera for his 1000 happy faces project. We met up with Rob's friend Andrew and went to the beach. We played Bocce Ball and splashed around in the waves. Matt and I were both pretty exhausted got ready for bed shortly after we got home. 

Beach time!

We woke up this morning and got ready for the beach! Matt's family lives in Chesapeake, Virginia so it's about a 45 minutes drive to Virginia Beach. On the way it started to pour :( We had to slow down to about 40 miles an hour on the interstate because the rain was so heavy. We kept driving and when we parked close to the beach we decided to wait in the car for 15 minutes and see if the weather would clear up at least enough to walk down to the beach for a couple minutes. The rain started to clear so we hurried to the beach. By the time we hit the sand the sun started to come out. We were the only people on the beach for miles and it ended up being a beautiful day. We kicked off our flip flops and ran for the water. The water was pretty cold but we kept running till we could dive in. We stayed in for only a few minutes before we decided to dry off and go for a walk down the beach. After our walk we headed for the car and drove to a couple beach shops for some souvenirs. We ate a late lunch at Doumar's aka home of the world's first ice cream cone maker. After showers and dinner at the house with Matt's mom and sister we went to the Funny Bone Comedy Club. It was a great show, but it is late and I am exhausted after our first long day in Virginia.

11 hour car ride to VA

I woke up at 5:30, showered, and finished getting my stuff together. I packed sandwiches, chips, cookies, and water for the road. Matt picked me up at 6 am and we were on the road right after I said bye to my mom and dad. We listened to music and snacked. Around 8 am I fell asleep for about 45 minutes. We had to stop for gas twice, but after 11 long hours on the road we made it to Matt's home in Chesapeake, VA. We were greeted by a "Welcome Home Matt and Kim" sign his sister had made and hung on the door. I met his mom and his sister, we talked, had dinner at the house, and then went to bed...it was a very long day (but a good one)!

Virginia Beach

Going to Virginia Beach tomorrow with Matt for a week. I will get to meet family, we will take a day trip to DC, and the rest of the trip will be spent lying on the beach!