bienvenido a 2014!

Ecuador was big. Strike that, Ecuador was huge. It was a trip that got into my bones. It was exhausting to my bones, too; I swear it's the loudest country I've ever explored. We were woken up at all hours of the night, every night, by everything from dogs (dogs, always always dogs!), roosters, cock fights (for real), car alarms, explosions of an indistinguishable nature -- you name it, it woke us up. 18 days is a long time. I never even realized it. It's enough time to fall in and out of love with a destination and then back in love, enough time to feel like you almost live there, enough time to feel like you're a real nomad, enough time to do laundry twice at the local laundromat, and enough time to burn and peel and burn and peel and finally tan. It's enough time to experience reverse culture shock when you get home. It's enough time that I still, almost a week after returning, feel homesick for the places we saw and the people we met. It's a long time.

But I'm back! And I'm ready for 2014, even as I'm still trying to catch up on sleep, kick a lingering stomach bug or food poisoning that Zan and I both have, submit my graduate school applications, and meet freelance deadlines that I've already pushed back a little too much. 2014 has me starting off running, and that's fitting - because it's a great challenge with time constraints to do it all to the very best of my ability. This year, to use every cliche in the book, I want to start from the ground up, go back to basics, fix the cracks in my foundation, etc. 2013 was a year in motion. 2014, I hope, will be a year in being the best version of myself.

I have so many stories, pictures, and memories to share over the next few weeks (who am I kidding? probably months), and I can't wait to do that. But first, here are my goals for 2014, in all their messy, broad, hopeful candor.

"Leave off from wrath and let go displeasure" - I'm reading A Prayer for Owen Meany, and this quote - a Bible verse - is often mentioned. Even though I'm not religious really at all, it got to me. Over the past few years, I've lost some of my, "everything bad that happens isn't bad it's just a great story in the making" mentality and let the little things get to me. I get angrier faster, my temper is more heated, and I have a harder time just letting it all go. I want to remember that happiness is a choice, and it's far more fun and enriching to choose it than getting lost in the muck.

Treat Zan well. I remember learning in church as a kid (I was once religious!) that we treat those we love the most the worst. I think because we trust them the most and we trust their steadfastness, it's easier to take things out on them. Whatever the reason, I don't want that to be the case. Not with Zan or in any of my relationships with the people who mean the most to me. I want to love more intentionally this year.

Be more organized at home and at work!

Pause before reacting. Oh, this is so big for me! I am my mother's daughter, which is to say - emotion rules all. It can be good - we're passionate and fiery. But it can also be bad - anger and negative emotions wear so transparent on me. I want to keep my emotions in check, take time for breaths, and take a moment to chill out before I decide how to respond to negative situations.

Find an activity I love to do. I'm thinking salsa dance lessons. And a slow, slow start back to running. I want to eventually achieve my goal of a half-marathon, but this year - I want to stay injury free.

Drink more water. We have pint glasses at my offices. I want to drink at least 5 of them a day.

Learn Spanish. It's time, y'all. I loved needing Spanish in Ecuador, and I hated that I wasn't better - that I wasn't fluent. I will hire a tutor this year, join a class, really dedicate time and energy to taking on this language that I love.

Eat fresher. I'm not horrible about this, but I can be better. I can be much, much better.

What are your goals and hopes and dreams for 2014?

friday photo | omedetou!

You see that goofy guy in the back left on the top photo? He's getting married next weekend. And a great number of the people in both these photos will be there. I'll be in Ecuador - I think en route to or in the Galapagos on the day of his wedding. And let me tell you, there's just about only one thing that could make me want to be anywhere else in the world while I'm laying my eyes on the Galapagos Islands for the first time, and that is Eric - or any of these friends - getting married. Okay, it doesn't even require a wedding. A reunion! A get-together! Any chance to see these friends, and I'd do just about anything to make it happen. But this time I'll settle for nervous, giddy excitement and anticipation for my girlfriends to send me pictures and live updates throughout the wedding. Omedetou (congratulations) to one of my very favorite people in the world and his about-to-be wife. She is one lovely, lucky woman, and I know him well enough to know that whomever he picked? He's a lucky guy, too.

the scenic route to old town alexandria | 2

Zander would wait for me a quarter mile ahead while I slowpoked my way, seeing the blaze of colors with my camera lens wide open. I caught up to him before we crossed the bridge, and he pointed and drew my attention to the west, where the sun, a fading spark of yellow, was hugged tight between a shifting canvas with shades of orange and pink and baby blue. Even with the occasional distance between us, cycling back from Old Town Alexandria to home was one of our most romantic dates yet.

the scenic route to old town alexandria | 1

I've been romanticizing Old Town Alexandria. There are all sorts of historical tours, Robert E. Lee's childhood home is there, and I envisioned it would be rustic, charming, and a veritable time machine to another era in the region's past. I was sorely disappointed when I realized it's a mirror image of Georgetown, complete with the same retail-therapy lined main streets and converted old buildings into restaurants and pubs (with a few vague ghost stories attached). Although it wasn't quite what I hoped for, I did still marvel at the stunning rowhouses and quaint tree-lined backstreets.

But the best part of Alexandria, by far, was the journey out there. Zan and I have been talking about cycling out there for a while. A few weekends ago, we pushed ourselves out of bed a little earlier than normal on a Saturday morning, grabbed some coffee (him) and tea (me) and started cycling. Round trip, it's about 26 miles, and every inch of it is beautiful. From Cleveland Park, we took trails in Rock Creek Park down to the edge of the mall by the Lincoln Memorial, After crossing over Arlington Bridge, we navigated onto the Mt. Vernon trail and rode that all the way into Alexandria. 

We saw the last remnants of glorious fall foliage, made a pit stop at Gravelly Point Park to watch planes take off from Washington-National airport, and crossed over a rickety wooden bridge that made me swoon. Wisps of cottontails greeted us. Drifting leaves lazily floated by us as we rode. A swampy area with reeds and woods and birds singing a final fall song called for me to pause to take it all in. 

And as hard of a time as I'm giving Alexandria, I loved spending time in the Spice and Tea Exchange, where I nearly bought them out of spices and teas. And we enjoyed hot apple cider from a local coffeeshop we found tucked away on a backstreet. We devoured lunch in a converted historic building, and we lit up walking down the sidewalks already ablaze with twinkling holiday lights and music. 

I used to be such a fast traveler - packing in as much as possible in the short time I had. These days, I savor slowness, reaching a new city on bike or foot, seeing every detail in high definition that's usually a blur by car.

friday photo | could-be christmas card edition

The mismatched furniture from when Matt and I said we wanted a global theme but went with what's cheap and free. Theo's crazy eyes because he hates being picked up but he sure loves being included. The vase of flowers in their sweet spot of a perfect bloom, a gift from Zander just because. The giant smiles brought on by hours of laughing until we cried playing Cards Against Humanity (and introducing my mom to Cards Against Humanity). Family.

Leave me your address because you might just see this photo again with a Merry or a Happy, uncropped, all perfect flaws included.

I'll be blogging less throughout the end of the year, as I attempt to cram a month's worth of freelance work, day job work, and finishing up my graduate school applications into the next week before Zan and I leave for Ecuador (a week!). I hope to pop in here and there to post a picture or share a story next week and/or while I'm in Ecuador, but in case life gets the better of me, I want to wish you all such a merry, happy, joyful holiday season that's absolutely filled with love and your hot beverage of choice.

thanksgiving

One thing that Zan's family and my family have in common: the men are the chefs. In Georgia, my cousin John fries the turkey for Thanksgiving every year. He injects a cajun seasoning into the old bird, and man oh man, it's crispy and juicy and has a kick to it, and I look forward to it all year. My brother makes the pies, a turducken, and last year a ham, too. In Zan's family, he and his brother can seriously cook. Zan grills better than anyone I've ever met, and Ben commands a kitchen. I've had little tastes here and there of Ben's cooking, but for Thanksgiving, I got the full treatment. He and Zan's sister-in-law hosted Thanksgiving at their newly purchased house in Petworth, and I couldn't stop swooning over Katie's eye for decorating and Ben's food.

My mom was up here this year, too, and she was so nervous about meeting Zan's family for the first time. I was nervous leading up to her visit, but the day of Thanksgiving, I wasn't at all. My mom has this gigantic personality and outrageous sense of humor. When she's at her best, she is a riot and at her worst, downright lovable. It's hard not to like my mom. Zan's family seemed to completely agree, and the mixing and mingling of families was a success.

I'm so grateful I got to bring my mom into the folds of my life, show her where I live, and introduce her to a family that feels like my second. It was a good one, this Thanksgiving.

a catholic & 2 baptists walk into the national cathedral

I asked my mom what she wanted to see and do while she was in DC, and she said, "I want to see you and spend time with you." I wrote up a rough itinerary for her visit anyway, to make sure we had time to see the White House and all the monuments on the National Mall, and eat at a favorite restaurant or two, meet friends, and I threw some shopping in, as well. But when Zan and I picked her up at midnight on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, and we stayed up catching up until 4 in the morning, I scratched that to-do list and made a new one: laugh with her, listen to her, share with her, enjoy her, love her.

And so by the time she boarded her plane - just minutes ago - the only tourist site we'd really seen was the National Cathedral. But we'd crossed off our entire to-do list 10 times over.

if you go...

The National Cathedral

Donation of $10/person recommended

Tip: It's built on the highest point in DC

Take the elevator to the top floor for spectacular views over the city