So, I imagined the White House sitting on five or 10 acres, not in the middle of buildings and a bustling city. I imagined it being on a busy street with lots of traffic, but it was on a closed street filled with Secret Service agents. I got to see their organic veggie garden too.
The White House was quiet and still. Outside, the fence, it was hard to get photos of it with all the vacationers taking photos.
Lady Victory is well known at Fort Riley, KS near where I'm from. Here's a terrific article on her. There in DC, I saw her again and it was a pleasant surprise.
We also visited the White House Gift Shop and got lots of souvenirs, including a coffee mug and Christmas ornament. I didn't know until after my purchase, but they charged $0.25 per shopping bag. With a minimum of a $25 purchase, you could get your photo taken at a replica White House Press Conference podium, White House Presidential Desk, and in the "Oval Office." It was neat to get my photo by the well-known areas.
I loved all the history and the opportunity to see places I'd only ever seen on TV!
Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with the Hunger Games series. So, I highly anticipated this last movie in this beloved series. The last movie in a series has a lot of big expectations to fulfil. While I'd read the books and knew what was going to happen, I wasn't sure how the series would tie up everything together. I also knew some super sad stuff happens in the last book and for that I wasn't ready.
Last weekend, I saw it and here's what I've come up with. It was a good end to a beloved series. Like in life, not everything ends like a fairy tale, but you make choices and you live with them.
The movie opens with Katniss after the last movie ended with Peeta strangling her. She's bruised and struggling to live with life after Peeta has been brainwashed by the Capitol.
To get revenge, Gale helps develop bombs. A first wave a bombs will panic people and the second wave would get the rest of the people. Katniss doesn't like how cruel that is, but the Capitol has made Gale harsh.
She gets her way into the fight against the Capitol. They want her just to shoot film for film clips against the Capitol, but that's not Katniss, she can't stay away from the fight. Peeta gets sent along to be filmed and of course Gale is there. too. The Capitol is as evil as ever. As expected they face lots of traps and monsters from the Capitol. So the "sewer monsters" were scarier than I'd envisioned and as a result, I screamed the whole time they chased Katniss and company. Everything happened so quickly, it was hard to figure out who had died. I thought some of the losses would be focused on more in the movie than they were; that was disappointing. They eventually find an ally within the city in the form of a lady named, Tigress who has surgically changed her appearance to look like an actual cat/tiger.
Katniss's goal is to make it to the capitol to kill President Snow. She makes the trip from Tigress's store to President Snow's mansion where all residents are being ordered to come for shelter. Gale makes the trek with her, but he gets recognized and captured before arriving there. As Katniss gets closer, a bomb goes off. People rush in to help and there she sees Prim helping. People are encouraged to bring their kids to safety in the mansion. As she gets closer to the front, another bomb goes off. We know who it kills...and we know who created it. Her relationship with Gale ends with him apologizing and her ordering him to leave.
She finally gets her chance to execute President Snow, but instead chooses to take out President Coin who has vastly overstepped her role and has become part of the problem.
Katniss returns to her former District 13 and tries to live. Peeta returns to and they spend time together. The movie ends with Katniss and her family with Peeta. #TeamPeeta
While the movie was full of action, I wish there'd be more about her relationships; with Gale, Peeta, and Prim. She felt disconnected and I didn't feel the love.
On that same busy day that we were in DC, we also checked out the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. It was across a body of water and shimmered in the distance. It was a balmy day and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial gave us respite from the sun, heat, and a lovely breeze. I so appreciated the wonderful quotes from Thomas Jefferson featured on the walls of the memorial. His words remind us of the strong Christian values that our country was founded on. This was one of my favorite sites in DC!
Next, we checked out the Lincoln Memorial. The statue is so much larger than I thought it would be. Sadly, the memorial was crazy crowded, but I did walk away with some good photos. Also, the memorial has a cute little gift store. I took this terrific photo there:
From the Lincoln Memorial, I was able to take several great photos of the Washington Monument. Here are my favorite photos of the Monument:
Here photos from the Monument:
A fun panoramic shot from the Washington Monument:
Next, we made our way to the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial. It, along with the FDR Memorial, I was told were the newer memorials.It featured many of his most famous quotes.
I'm glad I could finally see these memorials for myself. Pictures never do the places justice.
First night, we visited friends and had dinner in Springfield at Mike's American Grill. It's such an impressive-looking restaurant, but unfortunately for us, the service was awful and the food was pretty good, click here to see my more of my thoughts.
The next morning, we hit the sights in DC. I was warned that DC is extremely hot and humid, but wow very unaccepted!
The first stop was the poignant Arlington Cemetery. I knew I had to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during changing of the guard. I wasn't sure what to expect. It was solemn and still as we watched the lone soldier keeping guard. The changing of the guard is a must see with the beautiful military traditions I've come to love! It was hard to believe that there were 150,000 graves!
In college, I took the Myers-Briggs personality test as part of my Organizational Behavior class. At that time which was 10 years ago, I was ESTJ.
These really described me to a T.
As I've gotten older the "feeling" part of me has grown. Now, I'm an ESTF. I feel like this is more representative of who I am. It's always fun to learn more about yourself.
You know I love the Hunger Games series, so this shouldn't surprise you. I moved from Effie to Primrose:
Last week, friends and I went to see the movie, the Intern. We were looking for a funny, light-hearted movie and it fit the bill. Anne Hathaway shined in this role. She plays, Jules Ostin, the overworked owner of an online women's clothing company. Robert De Niro plays her intern, Ben. He's a widower who is part of a senior's intern program. He just wants to help, but Jules can't quite seem to let him help her. So while he waits for a project from Jules he becomes indispensable to everyone from interns to assistants.
One day when he oversees her driver drinking on the job, he takes over as her driver. They build an unlikely friendship. Her company is going through growing pains with her financial partners urging her to hire a CEO. She struggles to find someone who has her vision. She also struggles to balance her husband and young daughter. Amid the chaos of her life, she finds out that her husband is having an affair. Her whole world is crashing down on her. Who helps her pick up the pieces, none other than her trusty intern, Ben.
This is definitely a feel-good movie. The only thing that darkened it's glow was an unneeded erection scene. Didn't really add anything of substance to the movie as a whole.
My cousin had been talking about having a freezer party. It sounded like a good idea; prep food for busy times. The more I learned, about the company that she did the party through, the more I liked it. Wildtree wasn't just about prepping food, it was about healthy food. We all need help making healthy choices. We picked what bundle of spices we wanted to buy to make 10 recipes at the party with. We prepped meat and veggies for the party. At the party, we got our spices and measured everything out into the freezer bags. I'm in grad school and working full time. Fall is an especially busy time for me in both areas. I knew that I needed all the help I could get to make healthy choices. So, I was very excited for the freezer party.
Since then, I've been eating some tasty, healthy meals that are so easy to prepare. My favorite is the Mexican Chili, so good! Many of the products are also organic and gluten-free. I'm definitely making efforts to move to more organic eating.
Since, I have rheumatoid arthritis and often deal with swollen feet, I pay a lot of attention to sodium content. Thankfully, Wildtree's products have low sodium content and no weird preservatives.
Late summer, I wrote about my family's dog, Max's fight with cancer here. Late August we saw Max struggling more and my parent's took him back to K-State Vet Med, one of the top vet med school's in the country. We found out his liver was shutting down due to the cancer and he had 3-4 weeks left. That hit hard. We started him on 24/7 pain meds.
The good thing about knowing Max had cancer was that we got to shower him with love every day. We cherished every moment with him. Though the vet gave him 3-4 weeks, no one told Max that and he continued to fight with everything he had. How he fought so long, I'll never know. Despite his pain, he still greeted me every day with a wagging tail. He enjoyed time outside in the golden sunlight of fall and being petted.
The beginning of the semester is very hectic for me at work. By mid-September we felt that time with Max was drawing to a close, so I went to work every day and spent every night at my parent's to get more time in with Max and try to help out a little. About two weeks ago, I came home to my parent's and Max didn't seem excited to see me like normal. I attributed it to him being sick, but was still sad. He must've know that I missed his attention, because that next morning he busted into my room and laid next to my bed so I could pet him. Though I was now up much earlier than planned, I was so grateful he sought me out and came to spend time with me. In a nutshell, that's Max; always giving love.
He struggled moving and over time didn't have the strength for his beloved walks. So, my parents chauffeured him around the yard for one last walk. Max was so excited as was Max's brother, Riley.
Early yesterday morning he passed away. I've never been there for the death of a loved one before. It was so hard. I sang to him and he relaxed. We prayed over him, told him how much we loved me, and kissed him. Seeing his breaths stop pierced my heart. While we wanted his pain to end, saying goodbye was unbelievably hard.
We buried him late yesterday morning along his favorite walking trail and where our other precious dog, Franky is buried. I know the road ahead will be hard for my parent's and Max's brother, Riley. Seeing him sniff the box Max was placed in and look sadly at his grave was painful to watch. While we dread life without him, we know he's finally at rest. We will forever miss his beautiful golden smile, his love, and zeal for life. We love you, Max! We're so grateful to God for your beautiful life and for you being in our family! #LoveNeverEnds
