Inspiration and Thank You!!!

Brooke Edwards posted this on Facebook, and I felt I needed to document it somewhere in my own personal records.....Brooke, thank you for making such a fabulous video, and for being so amazing yourself!!! And thank you to Kirsten, and ALL of the other people out there that have been such an inspiration to me throughout my life......! You will never be forgotten!!

 

Pioneering Spirit of Alaska Award from Brooke Edwards on Vimeo.

Old Rag - The Best of the Best

Old Rag is my favorite hike in the Shenandoah valley.  Its got everything....great elevation gain, on a great trail, followed by about a mile of awesome rock scrambling to the peak, and an awesome easily trot-able trail down the back side!

I do get bummed out that this trail, to me, is the best of the best here on the East Coast, the trail is often super packed with people, and the two-plus hour drive doesn't win it any points......BITTER PARTY OF ONE......But I'm trying to stay focused on the positives -- at least I have access, and now have a schedule that allows me to get out more often.....(just had to vent, because sometimes venting makes a person feel a little better!).

Andrew had never done this one before, and he certainly had a great time!! Bummer for us when we reached the top, the clouds rolled in, so we didn't get the fabulous views of the Shenandoah Valley below.  Regardless it was an amazing day, and I was super excited to busting out the Houdini!!! Fall is in the air -- enjoy everyone!!

Thievery Corporation, Gogol Bordello, and MICHAEL FRANTI!

I've been a little manic if you haven't noticed.  My first "real" time off since I finished my internship, and with not much of a summer I PACKED it in over the past few days!!  But how could we resist this line up -- Thievery Corporation, Gogol Bordello, and MICHAEL FRANTI!??  And with cooler temps and an outside venue we just had to go!!

My neighbor Kathy rallied, yet again, and joined in the fun (so great to have such a wonderful neighbor)!!!!  We finally took the time and stood in-line for taco's from the Takorean food truck.

  Super yummy!!

I'll be honest, I was pretty worked from the last couple of days....But when I saw Michael Franti make his way towards the back of the crowd, I knew this was my chance!  The next thing I knew Franti was looking down at me, and said, "Come on up!"  And that was exactly what I did!!    

The show was perfect!  Lots of people, yet lots of space.  Great energy, and a great mix of people.....An amazing few days, and hoping for more of the same in the very near future!!

What an amazing way to spend a Saturday morning!

Bruce Springsteen Rocked the House

All I can say is when I'm 62 years old I hope to have 1/2 as much energy, passion and enjoyment for life as this guy has!  It was a sold out show at Nationals Stadium, with people of all ages dancing the night away.  He played my two favorite songs back-to-back - Spirit in the Night & Blinded by the Light....An Album (Greetings from Asbury Park) that everyone should know cover to cover!.  He played over three hours, and continued to play after the stadium lights came on as an indication that is was time to wrap it up!!  (I have recently learned we have curfew's in the area!!)   A great show with GREAT friends!!!

And if your interested,  here is the set list from the night!

1. Set list:

   1. Prove it All Night (with 1978 intro)

   2. My Love Will Not Let You Down

   3 .The Ties That Bind

   4. Hungry Heart

   5. We Take Care Of Our Own

   6. Wrecking Ball

   7. Death To My Hometown

   8. My City Of Ruins

   9. Spirit In The Night

   10. Blinded By The Light (tour premiere)

   11. Jack Of All Trades

   12. Jackson Cage

   13. Shes The One

   14. Johnny 99

   15. Darlington County

   16. Shackled and Drawn

   17. Waitin' On a Sunny Day

   18. The Promised Land

   19 .Racing In The Street

   20. The Rising

   21. Badlands

   22. Land of Hope and Dreams

   End main set

   Encores:

   23. We Are Alive

   24. Thunder Road

   25. Born to Run

   26. Detroit Medley

   27. Dancing in the Dark

   28. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out

   29. American Land (with guest Ali Weinberg - Max's daughter - on accordion)

   30. Twist and Shout

The Front-yard Landscaping Project

This project has been on the list since we moved in to our place....and with some motivation from friends telling me how beautiful the flowers looked in their yard, I found the motivation to move forward!

This shot looks like I have a dead body in my front yard!

Luckily for us we live a block and a half from the best hardware store in the world - Fragers!  They even have  little red wagons you can use to haul your supplies home.

Everyone at Fragers is super helpful, which made the picking out plants part super easy!! There are sooo many to choose from!!

Just one more trip and I'll be done!!

Ta-Da!  I've been super happy with the finished project, and I was really surprised how easily it all came together.  Now I just need for it to fill in a bit so I can finish it up!!!

I am Now a NICU Nurse....and behind on my blogposts.

I can with certainty say that I am behind on my blog posts, and being the most confident-non-confident person I know, I can say I am a NICU nurse -- A NICU nurse that still has a lot of learning to do, growth to be had, and the need of more experience under my belt....but I am a NICU nurse, and that makes me smile from ear to ear!

 I won't go into the whole story how this happened, or when it happened -- the whole switching career things. But I will say, it has certainly been a long road (or at least has felt like one). But I did it and very thankful for that. And certainly thankful for all of the support from friends and family of the past and the new ones along the way!

So in the end what do I have to say about it all? In short, sometimes your path is not as easy as you would like for it be.....but don't give up, do the best you can, because in the end it always works out like it should! Keep dreaming and make them come true!