Jury Summons

Last night Joseph woke me up to tell me that I had received my very first Jury Summons.  He thought it was hilarious.  I was not amused.  Mostly just because he woke me up.

I am fine with doing one day of the good citizen sitting on a Jury.  I figure as an American it is my duty and responsibility to ensure that people have fair trials, with Jurors who are capable.  I can't imagine putting my life in the hands of a bunch of strangers, and seriously I wonder what the average Jury looks like in Philadelphia.  Probably pretty interesting.  I figure we sit around and talk about politics and rights all the time, Jury Duty is now my chance to give back to and support the system.  (Although my cynical side would say what has it given me.)  Then I just remember the tax credits we get for being students and well yea.  And I mean I have made it 8 years with out getting a summons, that is pretty good odds I guess.  Here is to hoping I can fulfill my civic duty in just one day and that the trial doesn't last a full week.

This made me laugh

Seriously Republican voters, can you please get your act together and stop voting for Newt.

I can not imagine a scenario where someone would think that voting for Newt would be a good idea.

Saturday is a special day

Some days are great because you do a lot of things that you will remember. While some days are great because you don't do anything that is spectacular, but you manage to do everything that you want to do.

Yesterday was one of the latter. We didn't do anything amazing, we barely even left the house, but to me it was a pretty close to perfect day. So I want to remember it.

We slept in late, until we both woke up naturally.

It had snowed while we were sleeping.

We spent the morning lounging around in our pajamas, watching tv and just hanging out.

I made homemade bread and homemade vegetable soup.

We ran twelve miles. (on the treadmill)

I spent the majority of the day in my sweat pants, except for the two hours I was wearing stretchy pants to run.

Then we watched movies and went to bed at the same time. We don't always go to bed at the same time because I require more sleep than Joseph to function like a normal human being.

It was a great day. Nothing spectacular, but perfect in it's simpleness.

A Trip of A Lifetime

Joseph and I just booked tickets for a trip around the world.


9 weeks.


6 countries.


Washington D.C. -----> Istanbul -----> Bangkok ------> Ho Chi Minh City -----> Hong Kong ------> Los Angeles ------> San Jose, Costa Rica ------> Washington D.C.


We are excited

(but also kind of freaking out)

The Movies

Joseph and I wanted to go to the movies on Friday.

We saw Mission Impossible.

Movie theaters in downtown Philadelphia a very hard to come by.

I had some free ticket passes to Regal Cinemas.

We got on the subway and rode out 50 blocks to West Philadelphia.

When we got there we just laughed, and were really glad we didn't actually pay for the tickets.

That place was kind of trashy.

We will call it a learning experience.....and try to find a new theater.

We went to the 7:30 showing for safety reasons, which is apparently not a popular time to see a movie in West Philadephia.

This is me, 15 minutes before showtime.

It was hilarious.

Eventually a few more people did actually come in.  Most of them were double dipping with their tickets.

Fire Alarm

Last night at about 9:30 the fire alarm went off in our building.  We grabbed a few things and ran downstairs.  It is at times like these that I am thankful we are only on the fourth floor.  Then we had to wait in the lobby.  Firemen came rushing in, hoses got hooked up.  It was all very dramatic and for a second I was actually worried.  Thankfully it doesn't look like there was actually a fire, no water was actually sprayed from the hoses, and after the initial running in the firemen didn't seem to be in much of a hurry about the whole ordeal.  Forty-five minutes later, we were back upstairs, safe and sound.

Resolutions

In theory I like the idea of resolutions.  Planning for the future and all that.  For some reason though, I always feel so much pressure at the beginning of the year to make meaningful and thoughtful resolutions. For fear that someone will think I am shallow because my goals are not impressive enough.  I make plenty of goals throughout the year, why are the new year goals so much more important and ultimately ridden with anxiety.

I think I am a stress case.

I am working on that.

So I am not going to set any real resolutions.  However, in thinking about this coming year for Joseph and I there are going to be some major events taking place to look forward to.  These include:

1. Joseph graduating from law school
2. Me graduating with my Masters degree
3. Leaving Philadelphia
4. Moving to NYC
5. Joseph starting his first job as a lawyer
6. Taking a long trip to exotic places

It's going to be a big year.

I'm excited.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve we had a delicious feast and did other fun things.  Joseph's family has the tradition of opening their presents on Christmas Eve so that is always something fun to look forward to.

We had Beef Wellington. It was amazing, I want to eat Beef Wellington every day.

I made the bread for dinner.  It was not very good.

Joseph received a real-life Ghostbusters outfit.  Making his childhood dreams come true.

On Christmas Day we woke up to stockings from Santa, and got ready for church.  I like when Christmas falls on Sunday, I think it is nice to be able to go to church and to have some time to really focus on what Christmas is all about.

After church we napped (and by we, I mean I napped).

We watched the church Christmas presentation, which I thought was nice.

And we ended the night watching It's a Wonderful Life.

It was a great Christmas.

Christmas in Kansas

The Christmas break in Kansas

Walking around downtown

Video game tournaments

Seeing A Christmas Carol

Weston, MO - Home of Buffalo Bill

National cemetery on Fort Leavenworth

Going to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Cool old buildings

The National WW1 Monument

View of Kansas City, MO

Art Museum in Kansas City, MO

Liberty Jail

Visiting Church sites - ours and others

We had an awesome time in Kansas City with Joseph's family.  I was very impressed with all that Kansas City and it's surrounding areas had to offer.