I hope you all had a great Valentines Day.
Mine sure was fun!  I got to go shopping for flowers, and cake, and balloons, and food for my sweetie.  And then she gave me a cool case for my iPod!  We watched "Kate and Leopold" which is a fairly good movie for being a "chick" flick.  I mean, if you can get past the predictability of the movie, and just enjoy it for being a very fictional story of love, then it is funny and enjoyable...especially when shared with the one you love!

Vegas, Here we come!!!
Well, it is official, Jennifer and I will be taking a short Anniversary trip to Vegas in April.  I have to be in Vegas for a week with work, so we are going out early to see the city, and spend sometime at the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and any other sight we can fit in!  But most of all to relax and reflect on our first year of marriage!   All we will have to pay for is a rental car and some food!  The rest is free!!...Free you say??, nothing is free...and you would be right.  It is only free due to my extensive travel last year and this year.  Now the price is worth it as we are able to travel and and enjoy short vacations without having to take a hit to the ol' pocketbook, but don't want to have to be away that much again.  We are blessed to have this opportunity at this point in our lives!

You know there are always so many different things you can blog about.  I am constantly reading blogs about engineering, technology, deep thoughts from intellectuals, and crazy goofing off people do....As a result I have been trying to decide if my blog should have a theme, or just be random ramblings of my mind....I just don't know!  I'll have to see where this whole thing goes!

Our new apartment....new you say?? yes...new...after 7 water leaks in our last one it was time to move out!!....anyways our new apartment has had problems since the day we moved in.  They are easy things, like holes in the walls that need patched, missing shelves in the pantry and closet, and holes in the tub.  Now you would think that a maintenance person would be able to find a hole in the wall big enough to stick my pinky into...but alas I received a call from the management asking for me to be more specific about where the hole was in the bathroom...Now seriously our apartment isn't that big...and the bathroom is just barely big enough for 4 people (1 in the shower, 1 on the toilet, 1 in front of the sink, and 1 in the doorway)...no we haven't tried it!! just trying to give you and idea of how big or small it is.  The hole is right in front of your face when you walk in the door and try to turn on the light.  So I gave them some very good measurements of where it is in respect to the light switch they have to turn on to see...so we will see if it gets fixed tomorrow. 

Next comes the holes in the bathtub.  We have an acrylic bathtub.  Once they are installed and used for awhile they start to creak and have to be filled with foam underneath to stop the creaking.  To do this they drill two holes in the bottom of the tub and spray foam in......those holes have lost their paint and water is soaking in....It is a white tub and there are 1/2" holes in it and they couldn't find them???  I really don't think they even looked.  Ok so enough of my ranting, at least they fixed our heat! :)

Well we really love our apartment...it feels big, and it has a great layout.  If anyone wants to visit D.C. just give us a call!  We have a spare bedroom with a bed!  We would love to show you around.  It is weird, we see more when people come then we do on our own!  We have a few places we like to go, like Old Town Alexandria.  It is where I asked Jennifer out for the first time, and at that same spot were engaged 8mo & 7days later. (pause to reflect......)  There is music, shops, great food, and a nice view of the Potomac and WW bridge. 

Sometimes I forget the awe I had when I first moved down here...living close to the capitol of our nation!  I'll admit when I first came down here in 2003 it was sooo cool to meet people who work for the government, and secret service, and FBI, and I would always call my parents and tell them who I met next...Now that my friends, wife, and 1/2 of my church work for the government the excitement has worn off.  What hasn't worn off is the cost of living though! :)  I need to remember to enjoy the area I live in and take advantage of all of the free museums, events, and opportunities it offers!  Actually a few weeks ago Jennifer and I went to see Les Miserables at the National Theatre.  It was awesome!  Brought back many memories of the grand opening of the SSC and our little "mini-musical" of Les Mis we performed!