Leaving on a Jet Plane....AGAIN!!

March 21- April 16 is a very long time for someone to be away from home. Unfortunately, these are the dates for Brian's 4 week AFIP course in Washington D.C....which is required for his radiology residency. I've moped, complained, and dreaded this month for about a year now,when the dates were finalized for his trip. Now...the time is here.

The first week wasn't too bad and it actually went by fairly quickly but that was probably because I was counting down the days until I was able to fly out and meet him here! He happened to plan his attendance to this conference during my spring break...(and our one year anniversary!!!!). I arrived here on Friday and we have had a blast together. Saturday was spent exploring most of the monuments and we ended our day with a visit to the Natural History Museum. Sunday morning consisted of hunting down the closest Panera....hey! When a girl needs a bagel, a girl needs her bagel! We found one....outside of the city and a few metro stops away. After getting back into D.C. we walked to the National Air and Space Museum. It was so fun to watch Brian in that museum. He absolutely LOVED it :)

Brian had some lectures this morning, that he attended, and I've been battling the horrible internet connection in our room. I'm trying to be quick because before I know it it will go out again. It's been rainy most of the day so we've stayed in but I'm looking forward to the rest of the week....beautiful weather with high's in the 70's!! Ahhhh.....sunshine!!

Here's some pics from this past Friday:

Taking a walk :)

The Natural History Museum had a display of coal from Hazard, KY!

Brian at the Natural History Museum

Washington Monument

On our way up to see the Lincoln Memorial

Whoa....Heat Wave!!

So I went and took my first REAL Bikram Yoga class. I've heard of several other people try it and fall in love with it. I've been doing a lot more running, cardio, and strength training and I've noticed that my muscles feel much tighter than they usually do.....and I also need to face the fact that I'm not 16 years old any more so it takes a lot more effort to get my body to bend the way it used to! I actually have to work to maintain my flexibility. What could be more helpful than yoga? Well.....Bikram Yoga.

It really is a full body workout. It's not just stretching....and the atmosphere you're in is much more harder. Not only are you twisting, turning, stretching, and balancing your body in 26 different poses ( that's for beginners!) but you're doing all of the above in a 105 degree heated room. It sounds absolutely crazy but it is wonderful. I was excited to try out the class but a little nervous because I had no idea what I was about to get into. After dropping my bag in the locker room and talking with the instructor a bit (who was oh so kind and even set up my mat, towel, and water for me....she had it waiting for me in the room) I walked into the yoga room and immediately started sweating. Sad thing is....I'm not kidding. We hadn't even started yet!

The lights were out and the room was quiet so I laid down and got "focused". Except I wasn't really focusing...I was just trying to get used to all the heat and talk myself into staying for the class because I was already hot!

An hour and half, and 10 tons of sweat later, the class was finished. I have never sweat so much in my life....I was sweating from places from my body that I didn't even know existed. After gathering up my things and making my trip to my car, I felt AWESOME!! I found myself feeling energetic, stretched, lengthened, and cleansed. I am so so SO looking forward to taking another class on Friday. It was definitely tough but I never stopped and I was proud that I just kept pushing myself.

If there is a Bikram Yoga place near you....you MUST try it. Enjoy the pics below....I thought I was pretty flexible until I saw this guy. Haha :)

NAMASTE

My Old KY Home

Yesterday was a long day but we're glad to have made it back home safe and sound. Brian and I were so excited to see our dogs. We missed them so much while we were gone :( We landed in Louisville, KY a little before 7:00 pm, made a stop at Skyline Chili ( I promise I started my new diet today!) and then got on the road. We got home around 9:00, after picking Carson up from my mom's place, and started catching on all of our TV shows that we missed while we were out of town. Priorities right?!?!?

We were not tired at all because of the time change. As soon as we got used to Seattle's time difference it was time to hop on a plane and come back home. Haha....the lack of sleep is just now starting to hit. I'm pretty lucky...I don't have a full day of work today. I just had to go in and teach for a bit this morning but poor Brian still has over 3 hours left. Hope he's hanging in there!! I'm sure we'll be exhausted by tonight.

Well....we already miss the Emerald City and we can't wait to go back! I think it's time for a nap before hitting my "to-do" list.

Pics from Yesterday's Adventure

Brian captured this amazing shot...that's the Kingston ferry in the background.

My handsome hubby :)

What beautiful views!!

Walking down to the beach.

Hanging out by the boats

Hidden Gems

Brian and I started our day yesterday by doing some shopping at Pike Place Market and grabbing a quick breakfast at a local bagel shop. We decided we wanted to go more north of Seattle and explore some of those areas...Lynnwood, Shoreline, Woodinville, but our favorite place that we stumbled upon was the small city of Edmonds. It was such a quaint town but it was absolutely gorgeous. We found the port and walked along the dock and dreamed about one day having a boat to take out to all the lakes. As we kept walking along we realized that we were on the verge of a beach so we decided to go check it out. And I'm so glad we did....it was amazing!! The water, the sand, the views....I could keep going but my words do not give it justice. We wanted to stay longer but the wind got to me and my ears started hurting so I had to head back to the car!

Brian and I spent the next hour or so just driving and we found some great wineries and other local gems along the way. However we found ourselves back in Redmond. We grabbed a great lunch and then walked around the Town Center Shops ( and I didn't buy anything....how is that possible?!?!?)!!

To top off our incredible day we experienced our first Seattle rain :) Pictures to come soon....we haven't loaded them on our computer yet!!

We started our day off yesterday by making a trip to one of our favorites spots in Downtown Seattle....Top Pot Doughnuts. They have got some of the best doughnuts EVER!! They've been featured several times on the Food Network Channel and the Travel Channel so of course we just had to try it the last time we were here. Two doughnuts, a cup of coffee and a sugar high later we headed to pick up our rental car so we could start exploring some areas outside of downtown. We went to Bellevue, Redmond and Issaquah. We loved, loved, LOVED Redmond and Issaquah. Both are cute cities with a lot to do but have that more suburban feel which Brian and I both really love. We checked some places we could possibly live, grabbed a quick lunch then drove out to visit some friends, Jim and Carla, (who happened to be our wedding photographers as well!) and go out for dinner and drinks. They gave us a little tour of downtown Issaquah and Brian and I fell in love with the area. It is absolutely gorgeous and I'm pretty sure driving over the lake and having the mountains surround you will never get old!

I was so tired by the time we got back to the hotel and I totally crashed so there was no blogging for me! Here's some pics we took yesterday....enjoy :)

Enjoying a walk along the Burke-Gilman Trail...beautiful!

Mmmmm...Top Pot doughnuts!

Before heading out for the day

The Seattle Public Library....the first thing I'm doing when we move here is becoming a member!

Sunset over Pike Place Market

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Whew...it has been a whirlwind of a day so far and in a way...it's just begun! Brian and I have had a looooooong day. We were up much later than we had originally planned on being. I'll blame it on "still packing" but I think we were just too excited to sleep. Remember, when you were a kid, how you would get on Christmas Eve???? Wondering what Santa is going leave for you and what surprises you'll receive the next morning....well, that's how excited we were last night. However, when my alarm went off just a few hours later (3:45 am!!) I was totally regretting all that excitement. We quickly got ready, loaded up the car and headed up the road to Louisville, KY to catch our first flight. Of course we stopped and got McDonald's along the way! I'm pretty sure those calories don't count when you're traveling ;) We were extremely blessed to have everything go so smoothly....no long lines at the airport, smooth flights, etc,...

We literally just checked into our hotel room and we're getting ready to freshen up and head out for a date with our favorite city....Seattle! I'll be blogging throughout our weekend trip so Brian and I can share what we're up to for our family and friends. Here's some random pics:

Getting ready to land....you can see the Space Needle right in the middle!

Apparently I was just overcome with extreme excitement :)

Long morning but happy!!