Alexandria VA - Old Towne

I have made it a whole week here in Arlington. I have rode the metro, shuttles and now a trolley. Marcia, Chad, Rainbow, and I (yes, her name is really Rainbow) went to Old Towne tonight. We took the metro to Alexandria and then rode a trolley to the waterfront where we had dinner at Busby's Pizza. It was fabulous. We really enjoyed the pizza and the conversation. Chad and Rainbow are attorneys that are in our Decision Writer class. Rainbow is from Wilmore KY but is working in the Dayton OH ODAR office. She usually acts as our tour guide. She has been to DC before and she understands how the metro works. She is great with directions, unlike me. She has been very helpful to Marcia, Chad and I. Chad is originally from Arkansas but is now working in the St. Louis ODAR as a new decision writer. Chad and Rainbow are both in there early 30's but have been great about letting Marcia and I hang out with them. Marcia and I think they should get together. They are both young and single.

We had originally set out to go to Alexandria VA to watch the fireworks as it is there independence day. However, the fireworks were suppose to begin at 9:30 and we didn't finish dinner until 9:40. By then, the fireworks were over. We were all a little disappointed but we had a good time any way. I was disappointed that I didn't get any pictures of the waterfront but I think Marcia and I can make our way back there without help from Rainbow. It is a straight shot on the Metro to there. Also, Christy has told us the Charter House is a good place to eat and it is directly on the water front. Alexandria was beautiful. Just like and old town. There were musician playing on the sidewalk and all sorts of other festivities going on. I can't wait to go back. Hopefully I will have pictures to share then.

2 Kentucky Girls go to Washington Nationals Game

Marcia and I went to the Washington National Game tonight. It was fun. We had a great time. However, to get there we had to take the metro. Very interesting. I will never again complain about Lexington traffic. Give me my own air conditioned car any day over the metro. Marcia or I either one had ever been on the metro. We were packed in like sardines, but we finally made it there and back without any problems. We had help from some of our fellow classmates. They are alot more travel than us girls from KY.

We did get to see Austin Kearns play. I have some pretty good pictures considering we sat in the second to last row from the top. The Nationals were loosing when we left but I understand they tied up in the last inning and had to go into extra innings, but ended up loosing 5-2. We had fun and had a new adventure. I think we are going to the Mall tomorrow night. I think we can handle that. We are very experienced shoppers.

Marcia and Vickie's Big Adventure

Well, it's an adventure, but it didn't start off the way we had hoped. My mother and Zach took us to the Lexington Airport where we thought we would take off for Cincinnati at 11:40 on Monday. It turned out there was bad weather in South Dakota, delaying our flight to Cincy. Sounds strange I know but we didn't fly out until 12:30. So when we got to Cincy, we had missed our connecting flight. We were then put on the 3:20 flight to DC, giving us a layover in Cincy. But we decided to make the most of it and went to Outback for lunch. We had a great lunch of cheesefries and that delicious brown bread they serve. We felt much better after we had loaded up on Carbs. We finally made it to DC about 5:30. Ronald Regan airport is not air conditioned and it is very humid here and it was terribly crowded. We finally collected our luggage and believe me if I had had to pack that luggage around too long before we got to the airport, I think I would have found I could do without a few pair of those shoes I packed. (9 pair) We arrived at our hotel after a very frightening ride on the hotel shuttle. I hope Zach never drives that bad. We had to just throw our bags in our room and take off for the "Meet and Greet" session. I am glad we got our fill of carbs at lunch because they served salad for our meal. Thankfully, they had wine to go with it. We were late so we just picked a table and sat down. The ladies we were sitting with were very nice but when they found out we were Decision Writers they kind of gave us the cold shoulder. We did not realize the "Meet and Greet" was for Legal Assistant training too. They went on to explain that in there office the attorneys were blocking the hiring of paralegals as decision writers, so therefore they thought we were attorneys, but we quickly explained that things were not like that in our office and that we got along well with our attorneys and that we had just recently been legal assistants ourselves.

All in all, we are doing well. Marcia's ankle is still swelling some and my ears are still hurting from the plane ride but we are safe and have nice clean hotel rooms. We plan to make the most of our time in DC. I will have more adventures later.

What a Great Day!

This morning when I got up it was raining. I was really bummed. Today is that day for the Mitchell/Lile/Cohorn family reunion. I really enjoy this reunion. I love seeing my 2 aunts (my dad's sisters). They are wonderful, strong women who are great cooks and love to tell stories of days gone by. I enjoy hearing about their families and telling them about mine. I love seeing my cousins and their families. Each year the reunion is a little different. We have some that have left us for one reason or another (death, divorce, prior engagements, etc) and each year we have new faces (new babies, boyfriend/girlfriend, or just plain friends). All are welcome. It is a great day full of fun, food, swimming and sharing of stories. It is one of my favorite times of the year. I believe I like it better than Christmas and I say this because I am an outdoor person and all this takes place beside my aunt's beautiful pool. I love her home and her lovely yard. This year the new face was "Austin". Truett and Tonya's new addition. He is certainly a little water dog. I had the pleasure of playing with him in the pool. He is so sweet. His brother, Alex, has really grown up this year. He was like talking to a little man. Even though the day started with a little rain, it sure turned into a blue sky day!

I took a Honey Bun cake to the reunion and I had several requests for the recipe, so here it is.

Honey Bun Cake

1 yellow cake mix with pudding 1 eight ounce carton sour cream

4 eggs 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/3 cup water 2/3 cup chopped pecans

Combine first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Set aside.

Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans and set aside.

Grease and flour a 13 x 9 x 2 inch cake pan. Pour half of the batter into pan. Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over the batter. Repeat the layers. Gently swirl batter with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Remove from overn. Drizzle glaze over cake and cool.

Glaze

1 cup sifted powered sugar (I don't sift, so what if there are a few lumps)

2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. (I just use a spoon and beat real fast) Drizzle over cake.

Eat and Enjoy! Especially good with coffee.

Happy 4th of July!

Busy day. First, I did laundry to try to get ready for this trip. I am going to Arlington VA for Decision Writer training on Monday. I will be gone for 3 weeks. I have not packed the first piece yet. But laundry is close to done. Then Steve and I went to look for boarder for the kitchen. He thought it would be a good idea to remodel my kitchen while I'm gone. My biggest fear is that I will get back and my kitchen will be a disaster. I hope I am wrong. Couldn't find any boarder today but I plan to go to Perspectives tomorrow to look for some before going to Frankfort to my Family Reunion. The we went to Jazzman's for lunch. BIG MISTAKE. They said it would be a 10 minute wait. It turned into 20. We finally go a table and then we waited an hour for our food. Steve ordered a club sandwich and I got a pork barbecue sandwich. I don't think it takes an hour to make either. However, the manager came and apologized and gave us our meal for free. I told us he hopes we come back when they get faster at preparing the food. The food was good but not good enough to wait that long. Came home and did more laundry and then went back out to grocery. My chauffeur, Zach, took me. When I got back home, I made strawberry daiquiris and cheese dip. Mmm, good. Then I fixed tacos for dinner. I still haven't packed anything. Madison called and ask us to come to her grandmother's house where they were lighting fire works and then we went to watch the fireworks at Lykins. We had a good time but now it is 11:30 and I still haven't packed anything. Maybe tomorrow.

Check out my Slide Show! Pictures from Vacation!

We just got back from a short vacation to Cherokee NC/Pigeon Forge TN. The trip was much too short but all we could fit in before I leave for my trip to Arlington VA. I leave Monday for Decision Writer training which is a requirement for my new job as paralegal analyst. You will see pictures of Me, Steve and Zach. Mom went too but there are no pictures of her because she was the big time gambler this weekend. I am very sorry to report she did not hit the jackpot. Maybe next time, Mom! Zach and I walked along a creek that ran through Cherokee. It was very pretty. Then you will see the Jet Boat that we rode on. It was very exciting. It went really fast and the driver would spin the boat around and splash water into the boat. I have not had that much fun in a boat since my Dad got ride of our boat. It really brought back wonderful memories of times gone by. You will also see pictures from a petting zoo that we went too. We got to feed the bears and Zach liked the monkeys. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Trying to Buy a Car

Just wanted to let you know the reason I have not had a new post in such a long time is because my Internet has been down. I have tried everything I know about computers to get it fixed and have been unsuccessful, so yesterday I had Zach try to get it fixed and he did. Come to find out our modem was shot. I really missed surfing the net and blogging.

I have been trying to purchase a new vehicle (well, new to me). I have looked around and finally found the type of vehicle I wanted to purchase. Now the job is to find the one I want. I have been working with two different dealerships. At one dealership, I really like the salesman and he has really made every effort to find the right car for me. So far, he has been unsuccessful. However, the other dealership has the car I want but they have been rude and deceitful. I have refused to do business with those people. I have decided not to make a purchase until I find the perfect car for me. This could take a very long time.