Cherry Blossom Peak Dates Announced!

Come to DC April 3-9 to see the famous cherry blossoms in their full bloom. Check out the WP article.


This picture is my favorite night shot from last year, but I'm so excited to have a nice(r) camera this year so I can get some great shots!

Also...you may have noticed my blogging hiatus, this is because (a) all work. no sleep. (until Brooklyn!) And, (b) my computer is fried. Well, HP said that the motherboards in my laptop line are defective and this explains the sporadic shut downs and issues I have had for the past two months with the wireless connection and what not. This week I'm sending it away in a FedEx box and keeping my fingers crossed that they can fix it!

Couldn't resist...a big fan of the Flight

From the newest episode of Flight of the Conchords. LOVE it. They're going on tour soon, anyone in?

I will never forget when they performed "It's Business Time" at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2008. Hilariously unexpected.

Walt Disney World Half Marathon

I did it! It's hard to believe...but I ran 13.1 miles. Here are my results...

OK, so it's not the best race time ever...but I finished. The race day started WAY too early! Literally, we woke up at 2:30 a.m. Let's be serious, there are many nights I don't go to bed by that time. We did make it to bed early the night before (no thanks to Matt's antics, might I add-we had to kick him out of our hotel room at 9:00 p.m.). We got on a shuttle from our resort to the race start area near Epcot. It was so cold in the morning! Good thing they had a rockin 80s band warming up the crowd...at 4:00 a.m. For those of you who have been, think Spazmatics in SLC. Only, not that good and pretty dorky, but not in a cool Spazmatics sort of dork way.

The race actually started at 5:40 a.m. (yes, we were standing/walking around for 2 full hours before we started).


We were unfortunately in the 3rd of 3 start waves, so we didn't really get a fabulous "fast" start. Did I mention that more than 12,000 people ran the half marathon that morning? Yeah. 12,000. It was so hard to get around people in the beginning and runners didn't really thin out at all until sometime after the 3 mile marker.

Matt was so good to come with us in the morning to take pictures and film throughout the race. He was there at the start, around miles 4 and 8, and at the finish line. At the 4 mile meet up we threw our track jackets to him and he took some pictures for us. At the 8 mile meet up he had the video recorder in one hand and was holding up a sign he made for us in the other hand. There were two really funny things about the sign:

1-The Sharpie Matt was using to write on the sign ran out before he could fill in all of the letters, so the sign (from a distance) read: Go Tar Jam! He was attempting to write Go Tara & Jamie!

2-When he was holding up the sign around mile 8, with the video recorder in the other hand, it was upside down.

I guess it was just too early in the morning for signs.

I have never been to Disney World before, so I was excited to run through the different parks. My favorite portion of the race was running through the Magic Kingdom. We ran through the Cinderella Castle...yes little Sadie-the Cinderella Castle-and she was there with Prince Charming to cheer us on! We saw Mickey, Goofy, Donald, Pirates of the Caribbean, and so many more! My favorite was Winnie the Pooh. Jamie said that I screamed like a little kid when I saw Pooh. And, that's exactly how I felt. What a fun race!

Also, I wanted to thank Jamie for doing this race with me. I definitely couldn't have (or would have) done any of this without her. Tar Jam 2009! Woo woo!!

Hello, Google Reader!

Does anyone else use Google Reader? Wow. I love it! But, it is definitely a blessing and a curse.

Since I started using said "Reader," I feel totally looped in--I check the Reader a few times per day and I get all the latest updates from all the blogs I follow. After the first time I loaded all of my websites into the Reader it was like an epiphany. Amazingly easy to use! So much easier than navigating back and forth between my blog and 20 others.

Thank you Google. How is it that you continue to make it easier for me to do more with less effort? Magic, I think.

But...the only major drawback to the Reader is that I can't comment while viewing. So I read and read and read...but don't really comment, or look at my comments. I wish that I was better at staying on top of all of this, but truth be told, I am sort of a total procrastinator. (Duh!) Plus, I can't blog or comment during my day at work. Which is probably better for my level of productivity anyway. (Double duh!!)

So fear not, although you haven't seen my comments I am still watching/reading. That just sounds creepy. Ewe, sorry.

On another note, I have been working hard to prepare for my half-marathon in Orlando this weekend (I'm going to Disney World!). So, while I have lots of updates for the blog, my posts might continue to be sparse until I get back from Florida. (Or, after Inauguration-depending on work)

By the way, if you haven't seen it yet- I cut my hair!

Has is really been THAT long?

Wow.

I guess I have really been THAT busy. What's been happening on my side of the country:

1-Fun. Thanksgiving with the Chelsey's cousins in West Virginia, the Trainors. Contrary to popular belief, West Virginia was awesome. Not, redneck...fun. Seriously. (I was obviously shocked by this) It was good to see Peter, Chelsey, and the Bowens (now in Indiana). Can't wait to party during Christmas!



2-Work. I have literally been to at least 5 Holiday parties in the month of December. And, there are still more to come in Utah. Good thing I love Christmas or I would seriously be hating all of this holiday 'glee'.

3-Shopping. I think that I am almost completely done with my Christmas shopping. I am amazed with myself-8 days to spare! I also did a good job of getting deals-I made lists of what I wanted to get and ordered when it went on sale. I think I'll try and do this every year.

4-Cooking. Well, kind of. I tried making curry for the first time and lets just say that it wasn't as good as Galae (the most fabulous Thai restaurant right next door to our house). The attempt was Panang Curry--any insight on Thai/Indian cooking would be more than welcome. I have actually been reading more about cooking than ACTUALLY cooking lately, which defeats the purpose, I suppose. Newly obsessed with Food & Wine and Bon Appetit magazines.

5-Hurting. My half-marathon is in less than one month! Hard to believe that I started training for this crazy thing in July. I have been keeping up pretty well with the long weekend runs (10 miles last week) but the weekday runs have been hard with everything else going on. This why I think that I get really sore and tired after the runs. Hopefully the weather in Utah will be decent enough that I can attempt a 8-12 mile run outside this weekend. (Yeah right...I know) Also, if you haven't already donated, and/or you are feeling exceptionally generous this holiday season please take a minute and donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through my fundraising website.

6-So much more. I will be heading to Utah tomorrow after work and I can't wait to get the rest of this holiday show on the road...while blogging all the way. :)

West Wing Awesomeness

My amazing coworker Patricia has a friend in the outgoing administration and scored us a private tour of the West Wing of the White House. Our tour guide Pete was so nice to stay after work (right of the plane with President Bush from the economic summit in Peru) and show us around. I've been lucky enough to go on two regular White House tours, but NEVER the West Wing. I was so excited to get to go! I'm sure the girls were all sick of my by the end because I was asking Pete questions non-stop. We weren't aloud to take pictures anywhere inside other than the White House Press Briefing Room. If we were...me first picture on here would definitely be of the Oval Office--it was smaller than I anticipated, but also way cooler than I imagined.

Entrance



Presidential Seal


The recently renovated White House Press Briefing Room


This is what this picture could look like on any given day...


And, the girls

Have you heard the good word? Today it's lawyer!

Because this is what Matt is now, officially.

Yup-he passed the California Bar! Hooray. The months of waiting were absolutely torturous. But the results are in and Matt is now officially:

M. Ivan Thue, Esquire, Attorney at Law.

Here is the glorious screenshot we have been waiting 3.4 years for:


Also..Matt has no say on the following photos (which he most likely will not be too fond of) because I spent 3 hours making a hillarious video out of the footage I took while he was waiting for the results and after he got them that will never see the glorious light of the Internet. So here is your severely unofficial before and after photos:


[caption: I am freaking out right now! Did I pass?]

[caption: with an actual quote from the video, and truly in Matt fashion, "Of course I passed. That was the easiest test ever!"]

Deb's Delights

We had our annual Thanksgiving potluck at work this week, and back by popular demand-Deb's Delights. This delectable dessert is a macaroon pecan baked crust filled with a hazelnut flavored chocolate pudding and topped off with almond tinted creme fresh. [that sounded so Top Chef...haha]

Little food photo shoot

I think they turned out better than last year (I actually followed my Mom's directions--that will totally surprise her)

Listening to: Ra Ra Riot

Love the CD. And now I love this video.

Matt's first day on the "job"

Matt started work today as a starter at the East Potomac Golf Course, a public course in DC. He is going to hate me for doing this, but I snapped some pictures of Matt on the first day of the new job...


The background on this, I have to add, is that when Matt and I started dating he absolutely hated golf. He said it was boring. He refused to try to get better. And maybe played golf with me once or twice (I was taking golf classes and working at Birch Creek Golf Course at the time). When he moved out to DC I took him to Top Golf, which is an outdoor, covered driving range that has golf balls with sensors inside them so that you can see how close to the pin you hit the ball. Over time, you can track your progress. Or, in my case, regression. They serve food, drinks, play music, and have TVs-so you can't even escape football on Sundays. Every guy's dream, I'm sure. Needless to say, he was hooked. So is the story of how he fell in love with golf.

Now, he has decided to work at the golf course one day per week and he is now able to get free golf at any of the DC public courses, including a cart, and free range balls. So while this "job" (aka-sitting in a shack with a computer and telling people when they can start golfing) pays little more than minimun wage, it does have its benefits for the avid golfer...and for his golfer-spouse. :)

Unlike Matt's new, and rather annoying, obsession with Fantasy Football, I guess I only have myself to blame for the new, and rather time-consuming, obession with golf. But at least it's fun for me, too!