Christmas Party 2016

I know these posts seem out of order, I'm finally catching up with everything that happened at the end of the year!

Evan's squadron had a Great Gatsby themed Christmas Party, so I got to wear my awesome consignment store dress that I bought years ago! And Evan looked pretty dashing in his only suit...that he bought for our wedding ceremony.

The Glenns and the Sears, another dual-military couple on base. 

           

           

First Snow, 2017

The first snow of 2017! We were watching a friend's 8 month old puppy, who had never seen snow before. We knew that Ranger already loved the snow, so we were curious what Jack would think of it, since he had never seen it before. Needless to say, he loved it!

 Jack constantly tried to play with Ranger, but Ranger only humored him for a few minutes... Ranger's too old for that puppy!

  But they did love investigating everything together...

 

Inauguration Day, 2017

No matter what political party you subscribe to, you can't miss an opportunity to attend an Inauguration! This may be the only time I'm stationed near DC during an election with a boss that will let me ditch work for a day, so I snagged that once in a lifetime opportunity!

We started the drive from Delaware around 5am Friday arriving at the train station at the edge of the city about 6:30. The crowd's wern't too large, we were able to find a parking spot and metro ticket pretty easily. The transfer was painless, and getting to our ticketing area and security checkpoint wasn't difficult.

TSA was conducting security searches, we had to empty our pockets and go through a metal detector. Once through, the streets were still pretty empty. This was about 7:30 at this point. 

A perk about no crowds is some nice views of the Capitol!

We found a spot in the middle of the red-ticket area, but couldn't see much, so we walked to the edge of the crowd to see if there were open spots and an available jumbo-tron screen.

Success! We got a clear view of the Capitol and the reflection pool! And a jumbo-tron was right to the side of us.

Some people camped out with blankets

 Their introductions...

                   

There were many policemen and military patrolling the area, everywhere you looked, there was security.

After the inauguration, we tried to go find food before the parade 3 hours later. We passed the path, this was the beginning of the route. 

After we ate, we tried to find a way to see the parade, since thousands of other military members would be in it. Again, regardless of who you support, this is still an amazing opportunity. 

However, protesters were blocking all the security checkpoints... the lines weren't moving, and we couldn't get in. 

 

It was extremely frustrating. I understand that they wanted it to seem like no one supported Trump because no one would be at the parade. However, we weren't there to support either political party. We were there to appreciate the troops marching and the other parties that had dedicated thousands of hours to putting this event on.

As we were leaving the crowded entrance, we watched several policemen walk towards the crowd... and minutes later we saw some pushing and shoving down at the entrance. Knowing the tendency for violence with protestors, we kept walking the other way.

It was a wise decision on our part. Later that day, we heard on the news that violence had erupted in that area. 

Overall, despite some frustrations at the protestors, it was worth the early morning and cold weather. I don't know if i'll ever be able to go to another inauguration, but at least I was able to check it off my bucket list. 

Texan Thanksgiving

Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving!

Somehow the husband convinced me to drive 28 hours EACH WAY to get to Texas for Thanksgiving...I must love him or something. 

We took a pit stop at Barnes and Nobel... and I fell in love

On the way back, we got a quick glimpse of the St Louis Arch.
Not enough to scratch off my bucket list, though

I got to meet the entire Glenn family (minus one)! Three generations, under one roof.

Thanksgiving was hosted by the grandparents, who live on a large property with a small pond, which the family calls "the Tank." They have a small boat that's been around since Evan's dad was young. All the cousins took turns in it, some better than others. 

Evan took great joy in pushing Ian out onto the lake alone, in great big-brother fashion

Ian didn't seem to catch on to the whole Boat thing very quickly

 

 

Evan, however, was a pro.

And their property was beautiful!

    

    Apparently it's a Glenn tradition to celebrate Evan's birthday during Thanksgiving, since it's only a few days later. So Donna made an awesome cake and had Evan blow out a candle. I think one of the other cousin's birthdays was close, too.                               Also, Evan's family is awesome! His cousins immediately felt like big brothers, and his aunts are some of the coolest ladies I've ever met... we went to go see a movie (just the girls of the family), and I felt right at home. The way they talked to each other is very similar to the way I interact with my own awesome sister, so I felt right at home.   

 Esme, Evan's grandmother, is an exceptionally talented artist. She has a studio above the garage, with paintings on every wall and available space.

Evan's grandparents also have a stash of futuristic magazines...from the 1980s. We read through some of them, most with advertisements for the newest computers: Macintosh!

The articles also fantasized about space travel and technological revolutions that would occur in 30 years' time. Unfortunately, that day is upon us and almost none of their predictions came true.

I have never seen a state as patriotic as Texas...for their own state. This waffle maker was in the breakfast area of the hotel

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Thanksgiving was a whirlwind: two day's drive there, two days with family, and two days drive back. Meeting the family was awesome, but I think next year we'll fly.